Thailand, Constitutional Court dissolved main opposition party. EU warns, “No democracy without pluralism”

Brussels – To persevere is diabolical: After four years, Bangkok’s Constitutional Court once again dissolves the main opposition political party, the Move Forward Party, born from the ashes of Future Forward, which suffered the same fate in 2020. The judges ruled that it was a threat to the monarchy and national security. “A setback for political pluralism in Thailand” is the comment coming from Brussels.

In a statement, the European External Action Service (EEAS) spokeswoman Nabila Massrali reminded Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin and Ruler Rama X that “no democratic system can function without a plurality of parties and candidates.” Massrali then stressed the importance for the authorities to “ensure that all legitimately elected members of parliament can continue to serve their parliamentary term, regardless of the party they were elected into.”

The Move Forward Party was the leading party in the May 2023 general election, with over 14 million votes out of 39 million Thai citizens who went to the polls. However, it is not part of the governing coalition led by Puea Thai, the second-largest party in last year’s elections, which turned its back on the Move Forward Party by allying with the conservatives and the heirs to the military junta that took power in 2014.

In addition to disbanding the political formation, the Constitutional Court banned its leader, Pita Limjaroenrat, and ten other MFP bigwigs for a full ten years from political life, ruling that the party’s campaign to amend the law on lese majesty constituted a threat to the monarchy and national security. The Move Forward Party can still count on 142 MPs, 30 per cent of the seats in the National Assembly, who will now have two months to merge into a new political formation, as already happened in 2020.

For now, the reformist leader has called for calm among his supporters, as a wave of protests could become the perfect pretext for a new military coup. The EU is watching developments in the partner country and, Massrali concludes, “is ready to expand its engagement with Thailand under the Agreement of partnership and cooperation signed on December 14, 2022, including on issues of democratic pluralism, fundamental freedoms, and human rights.”