Political ally predicts court will dismiss Move Forward Party case

The Progressive Movement (PM), a key political ally of the Move Forward Party (MFP), outlined why it believes the Constitutional Court will dismiss the dissolution case against the MFP.

PM’s Secretary-General, Piyabutr Saengkanokkul shared these reasons on his Facebook account. His message arrived just before the dissolution case against the party, which is set to begin today.

Piyabutr accused the Election Commission (EC) of failing to adhere to Section 93 of the organic law on political parties outlining the precise legal procedure that the EC, as the enforcing authority, must follow. Piyabutr, also a former associate professor with the Faculty of Law at Thammasat University sees the EC’s move as a failure of compliance.

“The EC’s failure to comply will result in the petition being considered illegitimate.”

According to Piyabutr, the EC petitioned the Constitutional Court to dissolve the MFP but did not fully inform the party of the dissolution grounds and did not allow the MFP to defend itself against the allegations.

The EC’s decision to request the court to disband the MFP followed an earlier ruling by the court on January 31. The court had determined that the MFP’s attempt to amend Section 112 of the Criminal Code, known as the lese majeste law, demonstrated an intention to undermine the constitutional monarchy, said Piyabutr.

“Had the EC strictly performed its duty under Section 93, the MFP would have had the chance to defend itself against the petition during the EC’s fact-finding investigation.”

Last week, the EC defended its conduct in the case, but the MFP maintains that the EC did not handle the situation properly.

Meanwhile, political activist Ruangkrai Leekitwattana announced plans to petition the court to investigate attempts by the Move Forward Party’s Chief Adviser, Pita Limjaroenrat, to interfere with the court procedure by spreading misleading information.

Ruangkrai referred to Pita’s public address on June 9 about the 70-page written defence the MFP had previously submitted to the court, reported Bangkok Post.