By Thai Newsroom Reporters
THE MOVE FORWARD HAS SURVIVED the Constitutional Court’s historic ruling delivered today (Jan. 31) to deter the progressive party’s sustained attempt to amend the highly contentious lese majeste law with a court order for an immediate end to it.
The nine-judge Constitutional Court ruled that former Move Forward leader/current MP Pita Limjaroenrat and his partisan colleagues had expressed their anti-lese majeste law, better known as the draconian Section 112, with ultimate intent to “abrade” the monarchy and adopted their pro-amendment moves as part of last year’s electoral campaigns nationwide.
Given such court-convicted accusations, the Move Forward has been ordered by the Constitutional Court to immediately stop making movements or verbal expressions with such “abrasive” content against the monarchy and give up on the party’s alleged design to continually push for amendment to the lese majeste law by any ways and means other than those permissible to the legislative branch.
The Move Forward, which had become the country’s largest party winning 151 MP seats in last year’s general election, had been earlier more or less speculated to be dissolved by court on grounds of nourishing and sustaining moves allegedly tantamount to the undermining of the country’s rule with the monarch as head of state.
At one instant in the court’s readout ruling, the intensity of the convicted breach of the constitution’s Section 49 committed by the progressive party was apparently toned down with the word “abrade” used in place of “undermine”.
Though Pita and the Move Forward rank and file may have insisted that they merely exercise their democratic rights and freedom in pursuit of attempted amendment to the lese majeste law, such moves were ultimately viewed by court as being tantamount to the corrosion of the people-revered monarchy.
The Constitutional Court ruled that those anti-lese majeste law moves could probably come very close to finally undermining the monarchy if they were not practically deterred by court now.
The court named a few Move Forward MPs for alleged involvement in massive pro-amendment moves and some of their partisan colleagues for bailing out suspected violators of the anti-lese majeste law among street protesters over the last few years.
Meanwhile, famed street activist Patsaravalee Tanakitvibulpon was today delivered by the Criminal Court a three-year suspended sentence of two years in jail for convicted involvement in anti-lese majeste law moves.
She had been charged among others with breaching the lese majeste law during a peaceful massive protest against the draconian, indiscriminate lese majeste law at Ratchaprasong intersection in 2021.
CAPTION:
Former Move Forward leader/current MP Pita Limjaroenrat, left, with current party leader Chaithawat Tulathon standing next to him, talking to the party’s rank and file. Top photo: Thai Rath, Front Page photo: Naewna
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