Thai politician ‘highly confident’ ahead of possible ban

A popular Thai politician facing a decade-long ban after challenging royal defamation laws said he was “highly confident” of a ruling in his favour by Thailand’s top court expected on Wednesday.

Pita Limjaroenrat, who led the progressive Move Forward Party (MFP) to a shock first place finish in a general election in May last year, made the comments ahead of a decision by the Constitutional Court in Bangkok on whether to dissolve his party over its pledge to reform the royal insult laws.

“We are highly confident in the facts we presented and the argument about the illegality of the process conducted by the Election Commission,” he told AFP ahead of the ruling due at 3:00 pm (0800 GMT) on Wednesday.

“We hope the court will take these into serious consideration and believe that the rule of law exists in Thailand.”

The 43-year-old former businessman’s pledge to reform Thailand’s strict royal defamation law struck a chord with young and urban voters wearied by nearly a decade of army-backed rule.

But the dream was shattered when his bid to become prime minister was blocked by conservative forces in the Thai senate.

Pita’s political career was shaken in March when Thailand’s election commission asked the country’s top court to dissolve the MFP.

This was after an earlier ruling by the court that the party’s pledge to reform the royal lese-majeste law amounted to an attempt to overthrow the constitutional monarchy.

New York based Human Rights Watch says the laws have been used to silence political dissent.

Pita, meanwhile, has warned against the weaponisation of Thailand’s judicial system.

He said 33 parties have been dissolved in Thailand over the past two decades, including “four major ones that were popularly elected”.

“The issue is not what we will do if we are dissolved — that is already taken care of and our ideas will survive — but rather the pattern of weaponising the judiciary and independent bodies that we should pay attention to,” Pita said.

“I hope that the Thai people do not view the party’s dissolution as a normal strategy employed by the Thai elite.

“We should not normalise this behaviour or accept the use of a politicised court as a weapon to destroy political parties.”

Pita said the executive of the MFP, which has 148 seats in Thailand’s 500-seat Parliament, will form a new vehicle if the party is dissolved. (BSS/AFP)