After the Election Commission (EC) has decided unanimously to ask the Constitutional Court to dissolve the opposition Move Forward Party (MFP) for its attempt to abolish or amend Article 112 of the Criminal Code as it is considered an attempt to overthrow the country’s constitutional monarchy, the MFP and opposition leader Chaithawat Tulathon said the party will fight in accordance with the law but he admitted that it would be very difficult.
Mr Chaithawat said his MFP was ready to fight in accordance with the law. He asked the Constitutional Court to give the party an opportunity to defend the accusations and present the truth.
As for the rumor that the party prepares a reserved party, Mr Chaithawat said that MFP was now focusing on the fully defending the accusations. He also mentioned about the comments by Chief advisor of Move Forward Party Pita Limjaroenrat and some party’s MPs who posted on their social media platforms complain about the fate of the MFP and want to set and take it. He said the party dissolution is not a move to be accepted but it has to prove that the action was not the right thing in politics.
Meanwhile, EC chairman Ittiporn Boonprakong asserted that there was no any order to direct EC to ask the Constitutional Court to dissolve MFP. He said EC has taken appropriate time, not too fast, to ask the court for dissolution. He said the most important evidence was an earlier verdict by the Constitutional Court. The EC would also consider whether MFP has violated other laws to push for more legal actions on criminal law.
Mr Yuthaporn Issarachai, a political science professor at Sukhothai Thammathirat University, says there were two possible scenarios for the verdicts of the Constitutional Court. The first scenario, the Constitutional Court rejects the petition. The MFP will not be dissolved. The second scenario, The Constitution Court accepts the petition. There are also two scenarios. The first scenario, MFP is dissolved and the party’s executives will be banned from contesting future elections. And the second scenario, the Court dismisses the case.
However, he personally believes that the chance for the party dissolution is 99.99 per cent. (TNA)
