Thai former PM hopeful hit with more legal trouble

A Thai court on Monday sentenced Pita Limjaroenrat, a previous contender for prime minister, and seven other political personalities to suspended sentences for organising an illegal demonstration in 2019. The lawsuits add to the opposition Move Forward Party’s legal woes after the country’s Constitutional Court found that the party damaged the monarchy and national security during its campaign to change a provision that protects the king from criticism. The Pathumwan district court in Bangkok sentenced six key officials of the now-defunct Future Forward Party, the Move Forward’s party forerunner, and two other activists to four months in prison, suspended for two years, and a fine of 11,200 baht ($313.81), according to their lawyer Krisadang Nutcharus. The allegations stemmed from a rally they organised in the Thai capital in December 2019, which drew hundreds of supporters. The eight defendants condemned, including Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, a business executive, and Piyabutr Saengkanokkul, a member of parliament, want to appeal the conviction, according to their counsel. Pita could be disqualified from parliament if his appeal fails and courts uphold the verdict. Thai law does not allow people convicted of serious crimes to hold parliamentary seats. The party now faces potential dissolution and its executives banned from politics after lawyers and opponents launched more legal challenges in the wake of the constitutional court ruling. Move Forward is the biggest party in parliament after its surprise win in last year’s election on an anti-establishment platform, which included undoing business monopolies and curbing the military’s entrenched political influence. The party’s liberal agenda and huge appeal among young and urban voters represents a threat to the status quo in Thailand, and its attempts to form a government last year were blocked by the appointed senate, aligned with the royalist conservative pro-military establishment.