 "How Thailand found, and then banned, its most popular politician")
Thailand just got rid of its most popular politician.
Pita Limjaroenrat has been barred from office for a decade and the progressive Move Forward Party (MFP) has been dissolved.
Pita’s sin? Vowing to reform the country’s law dealing with lèse-majesté — defaming the monarchy.
But what happened exactly? And what happens next?
Let’s take a closer look:
Judge Punya Udchachon announced that the Constitutional Court in Bangkok had ‘unanimously voted’ to dissolve the Move Forward Party (MFP).
Udchachon added that the party’s executive board, which comprises a number of its top leaders including Pita, have been barred from holding office for 10 years.
The 43-year-old stunned many in last year’s general election by guiding the MFP to first place.
Pita wooed young and urban voters with his promises to reform Thailand’s strict royal defamation law, which rights groups say has been misused to stifle pro-democracy groups.
But it was not to be.
Pita’s ascendancy was halted by conservatives in Thailand’s Senate.
Instead of Pita, a coalition of army-linked parties took office under Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsPita’s political career received yet another blow in March after Thailand’s election commission asked the top court to dissolve the MFP.
That came on the heels of the election commission stating that the MFP’s vow to reform the lèse-majesté law was in effect a bid to overthrow the constitutional monarchy.
Lese-majeste charges are extremely serious in Thailand.
King Maha Vajiralongkorn enjoys a quasi-divine status that places him above politics.
‘Have faith in younger generation’
A few dozen supporters dressed in the party’s trademark orange gathered in front of MFP headquarters in Bangkok, according to an AFP journalist.
Siriporn Tanapitiporn, a 53-year-old food market vendor, cried after the verdict was read.
“But I have faith in the younger generation, they will return the democracy back to our country,” she said.
Sakhorn Kamtalang, 60, said the court didn’t have the right to dissolve the party.
“To me, Pita is my PM. The current PM is just a salesman, who isn’t fit as the country leader,” she said.
Hua Jaidee, a 69-year-old university housekeeper, said “good people always end up being bullied”.
Pita appeared in parliament in high spirits earlier on Wednesday, telling lawmakers he had faith in the kingdom’s legal process.
He warned against the weaponisation of Thailand’s judicial system, saying in an interview with AFP before the ruling that 33 parties had been dissolved 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,” he said.
“We should not normalise this behaviour or accept the use of a politicised court as a weapon to destroy political parties.”
The MFP has 148 seats in Thailand’s 500-seat parliament and Pita said its executive would form a new vehicle if the party was dissolved.
Pita first appeared on the political scene in 2018 as part of the progressive Future Forward Party (FFP), which was dissolved in 2020, sparking mass youth-led demonstrations that shook Bangkok for months.
Tens of thousands took to the streets at the height of the protests, many making unprecedented public criticism of the royal family as well as demands for transparency and reform.
More than 270 people were charged with lese-majeste after those protests, including two elected MPs.
“While I cannot and will not stop peaceful assembly — which I fully support — it is the right of people in a democratic system to express opposition to anything they see as unjust,” Pita said.
New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) says the lese-majeste law has been routinely used to silence political dissent.
Thai authorities prosecuted at least 258 people last year on lese-majeste charges in relation to activities undertaken at democracy protests or comments made on social media, HRW said in its 2024 World Report.
Thailand, Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy, is known for its chronic instability, with a dozen coups since the end of absolute monarchy in 1932.
Here is a look at the turbulent two decades that led to the pivotal decision by the Constitutional Court.
2006, September 19: Following significant protests, royalist generals overthrow billionaire prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who had been in power since 2001. The military takes control.
2007, December 23: First post-coup elections are won by the People’s Power Party (PPP), allied with Thaksin.
2008 May: The anti-Thaksin royalist movement known as the “Yellow Shirts” organises large protests.
October: A court sentences Thaksin, who is in exile, to two years in prison.
December: The Constitutional Court dissolves the PPP. The leader of the Democrat Party, Abhisit Vejjajiva, supported by the “Yellow Shirts,” becomes prime minister.
2009: January-March: Pro-Thaksin “Red Shirts” protest against Abhisit.
April: The “Red Shirts” storm the venue of an Asian summit in Pattaya. Leaders flee, the meeting is cancelled. The state of emergency lasts 12 days and violence results in two deaths.
2010 February 26: The Supreme Court confiscates half of Thaksin’s fortune (about 1.4 billion dollars), finding him guilty of abuse of power.
March 14: Tens of thousands of “Red Shirts” settle in Bangkok.
May 19: The army launches a final assault on the “Red Shirts” fortified camp. The crisis results in more than 90 deaths and 1,900 injuries in less than three months.
2011, July 3: General elections are held. The pro-Thaksin Pheu Thai Party, led by Thaksin’s sister Yingluck Shinawatra, wins the election.
August 5: Yingluck becomes prime minister.
2012 December: Authorities announce charges against Abhisit for the deadly 2010 crackdown.
2013 August 7: Parliament begins deliberation on an amnesty bill that critics argue could allow Thaksin’s return.
October 31: The “Yellow Shirts” begin near-daily protests. Several ministries and government offices are besieged.
December 9: The government announces early elections.
December 26: Clashes occur between law enforcement and protesters outside a Bangkok stadium where candidacies are being registered. A policeman and a protester are killed, and election commission members are evacuated by helicopter.
2014, January 13: The “Yellow Shirts” start an operation to “paralyse” Bangkok, calling for a military coup.
February 2: General elections are heavily disrupted. They are eventually invalidated.
May 22: Army chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha leads a coup. Elections are promised but repeatedly delayed.
2019, March 24: Legislative elections are held, marked by a strong showing from the opposition Future Forward Party. However, General Prayut remains in power, thanks to a political system that allows the military to appoint senators.
2020: Massive pro-democracy protests demand reform of the monarchy and the military’s exit from power.
2023, May 14: Thailand holds general elections. Opposition leader Pita Limjaroenrat claims victory for his progressive Move Forward party, the successor of Future Forward, and aims to form a government coalition to succeed the generals.
July 13: Pita fails to secure a parliamentary vote to become prime minister, as senators appointed by the military reject his candidacy.
August 22: Thaksin returns to Thailand after 15 years in self exile. On the same day, Srettha Thavisin, from a party controlled by the Shinawatra family, becomes prime minister through a controversial coalition with pro-military parties.
January 2024: Pita is cleared by the judiciary in a case related to his assets and returns as an opposition MP.
In another case, the Constitutional Court orders Move Forward to abandon its promise to reform the lese-majeste law. This decision paves the way for the dissolution of the party, accused of attempting to overthrow the monarchy.
February: Thaksin regains his freedom after a shortened detention of six months, most of which was spent in a hospital.
August 7: The Move Forward Party is dissolved and Pita is banned from politics for 10 years by the Constitutional Court.
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