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(New York) – The Thai Constitutional Court’s decision to suspend a potential prime ministerial candidate from parliament on politically motivated charges is a serious blow to Thailand’s democracy, Human Rights Watch said today. The Reform Forward Party, led by Pita Limjaroenrat (42), will win 151 seats in the May 14, 2023 election, the most votes of any political party, and will lead efforts to form a new government. given the right.
On July 19, the Constitutional Court upheld the Thai Election Commission’s argument that Pita violated election rules and was ineligible to run in the election because he held shares in media company iTV. This was despite the fact that the company had not broadcast for 15 years and had been delisted from the public market. Listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand in 2014.
Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said: “Thailand’s conservative elites, supported by the military, manipulated the constitution and legal framework established after the 2014 coup to create a popularly elected “We are preventing political leaders from forming a government.” “Both the junta-appointed Election Commission and the politically-controlled Constitutional Court are leading Thailand down a path that could seriously damage democratic governance.”
This cease and desist order was carried out in parallel with other attacks on Pita and the Forward Party. Military-appointed senators, along with allies and the Thai People’s Party, which heads the interim government of former coup leader General Prayuth Chan-ocha, blocked Pita’s parliamentary nomination as prime minister. Proposals to amend Thailand’s strict lese majeste (insulting the monarchy) law amount to an attempt to overthrow the monarchy.
On July 14, Congress rejected Pita’s nomination. Pita received 324 votes, out of the 375 votes he needed from the national parliament and senators to become president. Pita received 311 votes in favor, 148 against, and 39 abstentions from MPs. A further 13 senators voted in favor, 34 against, and 159 abstained.
On July 19, a joint session of parliament passed a resolution rejecting Pita’s nomination as prime minister for a second time. Of the 715 MPs and senators who attended, 394 said that a candidate for prime minister who failed the first time cannot be nominated again. A total of 312 people supported Pita’s bid, with eight abstaining.
The Constitutional Court also decided to hear a lawsuit against the Forward Party on whether its policy stance to amend the lese majeste law in Article 112 of the Penal Code constitutes treason. If the court rules against the parties, the case will be filed as a criminal prosecution. Party leaders could face severe penalties, including the death penalty or life imprisonment. There is also the possibility that the Forward Party will be dissolved and its executives permanently banned from politics.
Article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Thailand has ratified, states: “All peoples have rights and opportunities. [t]o Vote and be elected in genuine periodic elections…guaranteeing the free expression of the will of the electorate. ”
So far, the United States, the European Union and its member states, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and other governments have done little to publicly express concern about this serious threat to Thailand’s democratic governance.
“If the Forward Party is dissolved and its leaders are banned from politics, unelected senators and their allies will deny millions of Thais their votes, and all It would undermine democratic rights,” Pearson said. “Thailand’s friends abroad should condemn this disgusting setback to the long-awaited return to democratic rule.”
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