(CTN News) – Pita Limjaroenrat, principal adviser to the Move Forward Party, believes the party will survive the approaching dissolution case. However, he cautions that a separate inquiry could demolish the main opposition party.
Pita Limjaroenrat, who led Move Forward to victory in last year’s election but was prevented from assuming power by army-appointed senators, claimed that the conservative elite was once again exercising its might to constrain popular leaders.
“This is the seventh vicious cycle in twenty years. It’s a mechanism that the conservative elites have devised to keep elected officials at bay,” he told Reuters in a recent interview in an office at parliament, amid the clamor of MPs debating in its halls.
Move Forward’s Popularity and Political Landscape
“It’s almost like an old record playing the same song over and over again.”
Thailand’s politics have been defined by a two-decade-long conflict between the conservative-royalist establishment, backed by the military, and popular political groups such as Move Forward.
In January, the Constitutional Court found that Move Forward’s aim to change the lese-majeste legislation, which protects the monarchy from criticism, was a covert attempt to undermine the crown and ordered it to cease its campaign.
The Election Commission (EC) has filed a complaint against the party, which could result in its dissolution. The verdict is expected on August 7.
Move Forward Party has denied any misconduct and believes that the poll body committed basic errors. It had lined up numerous legal professors and others to support its position, but the court declined to hear any oral testimony.
“We discovered that the complaint process (conducted by the election commission) was legally flawed,” Pita Limjaroenrat added, citing points the party said it filed in writing to the court.
In this case, the court held hearings behind closed doors and only accepted written contributions from both sides.
Pita Limjaroenrat: The Most popular Thailand’s prime ministerial candidate
“I still believe in judicial fairness and consistency,” he said, pointing out that a similar complaint heard by the court more than a decade ago was dismissed.
Pita Limjaroenrat is Thailand’s most popular prime ministerial candidate, polling at 46% in a survey last month, ahead of premier Srettha Thavisin, who received only 13% of votes.
The 43-year-old Harvard-educated lawmaker stated that Move Forward Party confronts yet another huge hurdle as a result of a complaint filed by conservative activists with the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC).
The commission has made no public statements on whether or not it will file the case in court.
44 current and former politicians could face lifetime political bans for allegedly violating ethics by supporting the idea to change Section 112 of the Criminal Code on royal defamation, one of the harshest regulations of its type in the world.
“If we were to be found ‘immoral’ in our political actions inside parliament, we will be banned for life,” Mr. Pita stated.
“There’s no other penalty.”
That lawsuit alone could severely undermine the progressive movement, which has earned widespread support for its program, which includes abolishing military conscription and breaking up business monopolies.
“That will be almost like dissolving opposition in Thai democracy,” Mr. Pita explained.
Four Thai political parties, beginning with those supported by former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, have been dissolved over the last two decades.
The most recent was Move Forward’s forerunner, Future Forward, which was disbanded in 2020 and had 16 senior members barred from politics for ten years after getting a loan from founder Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit.
“Perhaps it’s time to break this vicious cycle,” Mr Pita stated. “I want to prove to the establishment, and also to the world, that dissolving parties is futile.”
However, if it is successful in overcoming the future difficulties, Move Forward will move forward with its legislative agenda, which includes a proposed law to open up the $8.6 billion alcohol business, which is now owned by Boon Rawd Brewery and Thai Beverage.
Boon Rawd declined to comment, while ThaiBev did not respond promptly to a request for comment.
“We are trying to demonopolise the liquor industry,” Pita said, noting that Thai farmers, such as those cultivating sugar cane and rice, will gain from the liberalization without drastically reducing incumbents’ market share.
“It’s a way that we prove that the Thai economy works for the 99% and not just the top 1%.”
Source: Bangkok Post
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