FORMER Move Forward leader and current People’s Party campaign assistant Pita Limjaroenrat marked the fifth anniversary of the dissolution of Future Forward Party by underscoring that ethics is still being used as a political tool to destroy people’s choices while confident that democratic power will not dissipate along with disbanded parties, Naewna newspaper said today (Feb. 22).
Writing on his Facebook page, Pita said: ”I don’t know if it should be called a bad joke or what.”
Along with today being the fifth anniversary of the disbanding of Future Forward Party which was headed by Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit who had been ruled guilty of donating 191 million baht in cash to this party, albeit allegedly taken for granted as a “loan”, it was also the day when the National Anti-Corruption Commission summoned him and some former Move Forward MPs for questioning in an ethics case involving 44 MPs over the next two days.
Move Forward, the second guise of Future Forward which has now morphed into People’s Party, too was dissolved by the Constitutional Court last August after the judges made an unanimous decision to rule the party guilty as charged by the Election Commission of having evidently breached the draconian lese majeste law, also known as Section 112 of the Criminal Code, by openly attempting to amend it with this deemed tantamount to undermining rule with the monarchy as head of state.
While all these things were happening, Pita was back working at Harvard University, on the same panel as his former professor, Archon Fung, who taught him about “Ethics and Politics” which he said is a topic that strangely reflected his current situation.
Ethics in politics should be the guiding principle for leaders to serve the people more than personal interests, a mechanism to help clean up politics and raise society’s standards, he pointed out
But when ethics is used as a political tool – not proportionate to the offence and punishment, without the right to appeal, or used selectively – it does not make the political system better.
On the contrary, it becomes a weapon used to destroy the opposition and undermine democracy itself.
“Five years have passed, what has changed is the context. What has not changed is the attempt to destroy the people’s choices. But one thing I have always believed in – the power of democracy will not be dissolved along with the parties,” Pita wrote.
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Top and Front Page: Former Move Forward leader Pita Limjaroenrat. Photos: Thai Rath
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