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(Bangkok)- Thai The Constitutional Court’s dissolution of the opposition Kadima Party on August 7, 2024, on politically motivated charges severely undermines the country’s return to genuine democratic rule, Human Rights Watch said today.
The nine-judge Constitutional Court Unanimous decision The Kadima Party advocates reforming Article 112 of the Criminal Code, which constitutes treason. lèse majesté (insulting the monarchy) and imposed a 10-year political ban on all ruling members, who will serve from April 2021 to January 2024. The case was brought by the National Election Commission.
“The Election Commission’s allegations against the Progressive Party were false from the outset,” Elaine Pearson“The Constitutional Court’s decision to dissolve the Progress Party is a severe blow to Thailand’s efforts to return to democratic rule after years of military dictatorship.”
The Election Commission accused the Kadima Party, which won the most seats in the May 2023 general election, of treason and petitioned the Constitutional Court under Article 92 of the Political Parties Law to dissolve the party and impose a political ban of up to 10 years on its executives. The Election Commission submitted the petition in April but did not allow the party to refute the charges.
The Election Commission’s ruling is based on the Constitutional Court’s January 31 ruling The Progress Party’s campaign to amend the lèse-majesté law is tantamount to an attempt to abolish Thailand’s constitutional democracy with the King as head of state, and is in violation of the Constitution. Constitution of Thailand People are prohibited from using their rights and freedoms to overthrow the monarchy.
Citing its January ruling, the Constitutional Court said there was evidence that Kadima tried to change or revoke Article 112 on March 25, 2021, when 44 of the party’s lawmakers submitted a bill to amend the article. The court also ruled that party members in parliament had tacitly endorsed the monarchy reform movement by joining it. Civilized Society The Constitutional Court held that such actions indicated an intention to overthrow the monarchy, which “posed a great danger to national security”.
Human Rights Watch said the disbanding of the Progress Party violated the rights to freedom of expression, association, peaceful assembly and democratic participation guaranteed by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Thailand ratified in 1996.
Article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights provides that citizens have the right to take part in the conduct of public affairs, to vote and to run for office in free elections. The United Nations Human Rights Committee is an independent expert body responsible for reviewing States’ compliance with the Covenant. Declared Article 25 protects the right to “join organizations and associations concerned with political and public affairs” and that “political parties and their members play an important role in public affairs.”
In February 2020, the Constitutional Court dissolved the Future Forward Party (the predecessor of the Forward Party) on the grounds that the party was accused of politically motivated Political parties received illegal loans from their leaders. The current case is the result of a lengthy process that effectively overturned the votes of more than 14 million party supporters, more votes than any other party received in the 2023 general election.
“Thailand’s constitutional system prevented the Progressive Party from forming a government and then disbanded it, crushing the democratic will of the Thai people,” Pearson said. “The dissolution of the Progressive Party weakened checks and balances on the political opposition and undermined Thailand’s efforts to return to democratic rule.”
The court rejected concerns raised by Thailand’s allies and UN agencies. statement “Every country has its own constitution, laws and regulations that suit its national conditions; foreign politicians and diplomats should pay attention to diplomatic etiquette when expressing their opinions.”
Thailand’s main allies – including USA, U.K., European Union, Australia, Japanand South Korea— The Thai government should be publicly informed that this decision is inconsistent with Thailand’s bid for membership of the United Nations Human Rights Council for the term 2025-2027.
“The United Nations and relevant governments should condemn the dissolution of the Progress Party as a major setback for political pluralism in Thailand,” Pearson said.
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