All 143 MPs from the dissolved Move Forward Party (MFP) have applied for membership in a new party, confirmation that there will be no “cobras” in the now-disbanded opposition party.
“Move Forward is moving to a new party — all 143 of our parliamentarians are coming with us,” the party said in a post on its X account, promising that there would be no defections.
When Move Forward’s predecessor Future Forward was dissolved by a court order in 2020, 10 “cobras” among its 81 MPs moved to parties aligned with the military-linked government. All of them lost when they stood for re-election in 2023.
MPs from Move Forward will attend a meeting to set up the new party at the Thai Summit Tower on New Phetchaburi Road in Bangkok on Friday, the public relations team of the dissolved party said on Thursday.
Other members and party staff across the country will also join the meeting, which will pick party executives and work out policy guidelines and direction.
The new party and its executives will be officially introduced around noon. It will start accepting membership applications and donations online from 4pm onwards.
On Saturday, a welcoming event for new party members will be held at the Stadium One sports community mall on Banthat Thong Road in Bangkok. MPs, city councillors and the new party executives will be present to welcome the new members.
Former executives of the disbanded party, meanwhile, will join an election campaign for the Provincial Administration Organistation in Ratchaburi province on Sept 1, said the public relations team.
The largest opposition party in the House lost six members on Wednesday, as six of its 11 executives banned by the Constitutional Court were also list MPs.
Sirikanya Tansakun, who is tipped to lead the new party, on Wednesday expressed confidence that all would move to their “new home” on Friday.
“We haven’t checked the names but we are very confident that everyone will come with us,” she told reporters.
The 43-year-old economist said the new party might do some things differently, but the foundation would remain the same: “We will continue the core ideology.”
The party had already identified a pool of dozens of candidates from where it can create a pipeline of leaders at multiple levels, ensuring that any new political vehicle that it backs can swiftly ready itself to fight elections, now-banned chief adviser Pita Limjaroenrat told Reuters last month.
Ms Sirikanya, the deputy leader of Move Forward, is not among the 11 banned party executives.
The nine-judge panel found Move Forward guilty of jeopardising the constitutional monarchy and national security because it proposed to amend the lese-majeste law, and banned its executives for 10 years.
Before the court announced its decision, Jirat Thongsuwan, a Move Forward MP for Chachoengsao, claimed on Tuesday that an assistant to a cabinet minister had approached him through a friend in his constituency with an offer of 20-30 million baht.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin insisted he wasn’t aware of any cabinet ministers attempting to persuade MPs from the MFP to switch sides by offering them 20-30 million baht.
An image posted by the Move Forward Party — and featured on the black T-shirts worn by its members — says “Shrug your shoulders and move on”. (Photo: @MFPThailand X account)