The Election Commission (EC) has asked the Constitutional Court today to dissolve the Move Forward party and prevent its leaders from participating in politics, following the rules of the Political Parties Act.
This is the latest action after the EC's unanimous decision on March 12.th, which found sufficient evidence that the Move Forward party tried to undermine the Constitutional Monarchy and acted in a way considered unfriendly to it.
On January 31st, the Constitutional Court, with a unanimous verdict, determined that Pita Limjaroenrat, the former leader of the Move Forward party, and the party itself used their rights to try to overthrow the Constitutional Monarchy by proposing changes to Section 112 of the Criminal Code (the lèse majesté law) and making these changes part of their election campaign platform.
The EC's decision comes two days before its regular Wednesday meeting.
Former election commissioner Somchai Srisutthiyakorn recently suggested that the Constitutional Court would take no more than two months to make a decision.
He believes there's little chance that the party will avoid dissolution, and it must decide whether to wait for the court's decision or have its party-list MPs, who are on the executive committee, resign now so that other members on the list can move up and maintain the number of party-list seats in the House.
Alternatively, it could allow the constituency MPs to resign and join a new party to keep their parliamentary status within 60 days of the court's dissolution ruling.
