Thailand’s top court ordered dissolution of the nation’s largest opposition party for violating election rules, in a verdict that risks igniting fresh political turmoil in the Southeast Asian nation.

The nine-member Constitutional Court unanimously ruled that Move Forward Party’s poll promise to amend the lese majeste law, which protects the royal family from criticism, violated election rules. The court also banned its top executives, including prime ministerial candidate Pita Limjaroenrat and opposition leader Chaithawat Tulathon, from political activities or running for public office for 10 years.

After the verdict, Pita denied the charge that his party sought to undermine the monarchy but vowed to continue the group’s fight to “break the cycle” of party dissolutions to make Thailand a true democracy.

Under Thai election rules, about 150 Move Forward lawmakers in the 500-member House of Representatives, must now move to a new party within 60 days or lose their seats. A new party will be announced on Friday, Sirikanya Tansakun, who’s widely tipped to lead the new outfit, told reporters.

The Election Commission had sought the party’s dissolution after a court earlier this year ruled that the group’s campaign for amending the royal insult law, also known as as Article 112 of the Thai penal code, amounted to an attempt to overthrow the kingdom’s constitutional monarchy.

While the dissolution risks triggering political unrest, a ruling next week by the same court on a petition to oust Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin over an alleged ethical slip-up may add to the drama. Already, investors are dumping the nation’s stocks, and any further upheaval can potentially derail Srettha’s attempts to reboot an economy that’s notched an average sub-2% growth rate in the past decade, well below its regional peers.

The baht extended declines to 0.4% after the court’s ruling, while the nation’s benchmark stock index closed 1.3% higher amid broader gains in the region.

Investors are more worried about the fate of the prime minister as his disqualification could disrupt government functioning and budget spending, according to Koraphat Vorachet, an investment strategist at Krungsri Securities Co. The market had already priced in the impact of a dissolution, he said.

Move Forward disrupted Thai politics by winning the most parliamentary seats in the general election held in May last year. Its supporters were largely young and urban voters who had grown frustrated with the nearly decade-long military-backed administrations.


#viralvideo #viralshorts #shorts #explorepage #democrats #power #congress #political #politicalnews #politics #police #youtube #youtubeshorts #youtuber #mtg #biden #status #msnbc #worldnews #explore #fox #america #world #republican #reels #reels #trump #transformation #truthful_speech #gaza #war #warzone #trending #newstatus #newshorts #newsupdate #news #newyork #trial #court #election #video #videoshort #newstoday #newsheadlines #cnn #pbs #youtubechannel #youtubevideos #youtubeshort #reelsinstagram #reelsfb #facebook #instagram #instagramyoutube #instagramstatus #facebookreels #twitter #twitch #twitchstreamer #twitchclips #tiktok #tiktokvideo #tiktokviral #tiktokvideos #viral #democracy #freedom #education #educational #information #influencer #info #informative #congress #freedom #foxnews #maga #shortsfeed #shortvideo #shortsviral #shortvideos #shortsyoutube #short #shortfeed #instagramshorts #inspiration #usa #usanews #usanewstoday # #unitedstates #viral_video #viral #viralshort #shortsfeed #videoshort #videoshorts #viralreelsfb #crypto #cryptocurrency #cryptotrading #cryptonews #stockmarket #stocks #business #wallstreet #finance #businessnews #bitcoin #trading #businessideas #thailand #thai #moveforward

свернуть