Constitutional Court dissolves Thai opposition party Vpred

Thailand’s Constitutional Court on Wednesday ordered the dissolution of the popular opposition Phak Kao Klai Party over its attempt to amend the blasphemy law that prohibits criticism and insults to the Thai monarchy. TASR obtained information from Reuters, DPA and BBC TV.

The Vpred party won the parliamentary elections held in May last year. However, it failed to form a government and traditional conservative forces remain in power.

The decision to dissolve the party did not come as a surprise to political analysts or members of the Vpred party. In recent days, the party wrote on the Facebook social network that “the dissolution of a political party will lead to the demise of the legal form, but it will never suppress the ideology.”

Progressive plan

Reuters noted that the dissolution could anger millions of young and urban voters who support the Vpred party’s progressive agenda. Among other things, the party seeks to reform the armed forces and abolish the monopolies of large companies. The party’s reform plan a year ago meant that Vpred leader Pita Limdzharenrat did not become the new prime minister after the election. His election was blocked by Thai senators appointed by the military.

Six months ago, a Thai court ordered the Vpred party to abandon plans to reform the lese majeste law. The court ruled that such a proposal was unconstitutional and could disrupt Thailand’s political system.

Insulting the monarchy is severely punished in Thailand. If defamation and insulting the monarchy is committed, the perpetrator can be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison. Human rights activists point out that the law has been used by several Thai governments to suppress political opponents. However, the Thai military, which clearly supports anarchism and has an extremely powerful position in Thailand, strongly opposes its abolition. In 2006, soldiers overthrew the then prime minister on suspicion of undermining the monarchy.

143 MPs can continue

However, the impact of the court ruling, which only banned 11 representatives of the party from further political involvement, is expected to be less significant.

The other 143 deputies can therefore continue to perform their duties. Politicians may form a new party, similar to what was done in 2020, when the predecessor of the Vpred party was dissolved for violating campaign finance rules. If all MPs join a new party, they will become the largest club in parliament.