Piyabutr predicts court will reject dissolution case
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Piyabutr predicts court will reject dissolution case

Piyabutr: 'EC failed to give grounds'
Piyabutr: 'EC failed to give grounds'

The Progressive Movement (PM), a core political ally of the main opposition Move Forward Party (MFP), on Monday outlined reasons why it believes the Constitutional Court will throw out the dissolution case against the MFP.

The reasons were furnished by Piyabutr Saengkanokkul, PM secretary-general, on his Facebook account on Monday. His message came on the eve of a dissolution case against the party, which begins on Tuesday.

Mr Piyabutr accused the EC of failing to follow Section 93 of the organic law on political parties, which stipulates the exact legal procedure which the EC, as the law's enforcement authority, must follow.

The failure will consequently see the petition deemed illegitimate, according to Mr Piyabutr, a former associate professor with the Faculty of Law at Thammasat University.

The EC, which petitioned the Constitutional Court to disband the MFP, has not fully informed the party of the grounds for dissolution and failed to allow the MFP to defend itself against the allegation, said Mr Piyabutr.

The EC's decision to ask the court to disband the MFP followed the court's earlier ruling on Jan 31 that the MFP's attempt to change Section 112 of the Criminal Code, or the lese majeste law, indicated an intention to undermine the constitutional monarchy.

Had the EC strictly carried out its duty under Section 93, the MFP would have had the opportunity to defend itself against the petition during the EC's fact-finding investigation, he said.

The EC last week defended its conduct in the case, but the MFP insists they did not do a proper job.

Meanwhile, political activist Ruangkrai Leekitwattana said on Monday he planned to petition the court to look into attempts by MFP chief adviser Pita Limjaroenrat to interfere with court procedure in the case by disseminating misleading information.

Mr Ruangkrai was referring to Mr Pita's public address on June 9 about the 70-page written defence the MFP had earlier submitted to the court.

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