MPs from the dissolved Move Forward Party (MFP) will move to their “new home” on Friday, according to Sirikanya Tansakun, who is tipped to lead the new party.
Ms Sirikanya, the deputy leader of Move Forward, is not among the 11 party executives who were banned from politics for 10 years by the Constitutional Court on Wednesday.
She joined the executives at a news conference at party headquarters in Hua Mak district of Bangkok to discuss their reaction to the ruling and plans for the future.
Ms Sirikanya expressed confidence that all of the main opposition party’s 142 remaining MPs would join the new party.
“Move Forward has been disbanded on the day when the number of our party members reached 100,000. Let’s see all 100,000 party members go to our new home together,” she said.
Several party supporters broke into tears after hearing the dissolution order earlier, while others booed the big screen as they watched. All promised to continue supporting the new party.
MP Rangsiman Rome remained defiant, saying the reincarnation of the party would come back stronger in the next polls.
Chief adviser Pita Limjaroenrat was upbeat as he tried to calm upset supporters.
“I will continue in politics as a citizen,” he said in response to his ban. “I’m not going anywhere. I know that you might feel disappointed or angry … but we won’t let that eat you up. We’ll return on the next ballot.”
The party did not “antagonise the constitutional monarchy”, as described in a court ruling, Mr Pita said, adding that its lawmakers would form a new party this week.
“We have no intention of treason, insurrection or separating the monarchy from the country,” he said.
Mr Pita vowed to continue the group’s fight to “break the cycle” of party dissolutions to make Thailand a true democracy.
Leader Chaithawat Tulathon, who has also been banned, told the press conference that the decision by the court had set a dangerous precedent for the way the constitution is interpreted.
“In the long term, the court’s ruling may cause the democratic ruling system with the King as head of the state to mutate into another system,” he said. (Story continues below)
Move Forward Party chief adviser Pita Limjaroenrat discusses the party’s next steps, flanked by leader Chaithawat Tulathon (left) and deputy leader Sirikanya Tansakun, who is exopected to lead the new party that MPs will join on Friday, at party headquarters in Bangkok on Wednesday evening. (Pool Photo)
Farewells in the House
In the House of Representatives earlier, Mr Chaithawat bade farewell and extended a thank-you to fellow MPs. He expressed hope that the House would continue working to serve the people and would truly represent them.
Also saying goodbye was deputy House speaker Padipat Santipada. He left Move Forward last year and joined another party so that he could become a deputy speaker, but he was still an MFP executive during the period covered by the court ruling and was thus banned.
The ban order would lead to a by-election in Phitsanulok Constituency 1 to replace Mr Padipat, said Mr Pita.
He urged party supporters to throng polling stations to exercise their voting rights in the by-election and in the general elections due in 2027.
Mr Padipat, who chaired Wednesday’s sitting, told the chamber that supreme power belongs to the people, and then adjourned the meeting.
Pannika Wanich, a former Future Forward MP and spokesperson for the Progressive Movement, said: “They (the judges) don’t realise that the people who have the power to make these decisions are not them. They don’t realise that the people have the ultimate power in this country.”