Stay tuned for tomorrow’s Constitutional Court decision on the dissolution of the Move Forward Party.

Constitutional Court, Tomorrow, the Constitutional Court will rule on the petition to dissolve the Move Forward Party. The campaign policy to amend Section 112 is considered to be an overthrow of the government. Strict security measures will be implemented. If violated, the executive committee will be disqualified for 10 years. 143 MPs will find new parties within 60 days. By-election for Phitsanulok MPs. Reporters reported that tomorrow, the Constitutional Court will hold an oral statement, a meeting to discuss, vote, and sit on the bench to read the verdict in the case where the Election Commission, led by the Registrar of Political Parties, requested the Constitutional Court to consider and rule to issue an order to dissolve the Move Forward Party and revoke the right to run for election of persons who are members of the party's executive committee and prohibit persons who hold positions on the party's executive committee and whose right to run for election has been revoked from registering a new politic al party or becoming a member of the party's executive committee or participating in the establishment of a new political party within 10 years from the date the Constitutional Court issued the order, according to the Political Party Act 2017, Section 92, Paragraph Two and Section 94, Paragraph Two, due to the fact that there is evidence to believe that the Move Forward Party has acted in a manner that overthrows the democratic regime with the King as Head of State and is in a manner that may be hostile to the democratic regime with the King as Head of State, which is a reason to dissolve the party, according to the Political Party Act, Section 92, Paragraph One (1) and (2). The facts are as shown in the Constitutional Court's ruling No. 3/2567, which stated that the proposal of the draft bill to amend the Criminal Code (No. ..) B.E. ... to revoke Section 112 of the Criminal Code, which 44 MPs of the Move Forward Party submitted to the President of the House of Representatives on March 25, 2021 and used as a policy for the 2023 election campaign, is an exercise of freedom to overthrow the democratic regime with the King as Head of State under Section 49, paragraph one of the Constitution, and the Constitutional Court has ordered to stop such action. At 9:30 a.m., the Constitutional Court will begin its oral presentation, voting and making its ruling before sitting on the bench to read the ruling to the parties at 3:00 p.m. as scheduled. In this case, the issue for the court to decide is whether the proposal of the draft bill to amend the Criminal Code (No. ..) B.E. ... to revoke Section 112 of the Criminal Code by using it as a policy for the election campaign is an act of overthrowing the democratic regime with the King as Head of State and is considered an act that may be hostile to the democratic regime with the King as Head of State according to the Political Party Act Section 92, paragraph one (1) and (2) or not. The court's decision can be made in two ways: dismiss the petition and order the party to be dissolved. If the party is dissolved, the right to run for election of the party executive committee that committed the offense will be revoked, preventing them from registering a new political party or being a party executive committee member or participating in the establishment of a new political party within the specified period of 10 years. The Move Forward Party's executive committee from 2020-2023 found that the current MPs consist of 5 party-list MPs: Mr. Pita Limjaroenrat, the party leader at the time; Mr. Chaithawat Tulathan, the party secretary at the time; Ms. Bencha Saengchan; Mr. Suthep U-on; Mr. Aphichat Sirisunthon; and 1 constituency MP: Mr. Padipat Santi Phada, MP for Phitsanulok, who was expelled from the party and currently belongs to the Serm Tham Party. The party executive committee, which is not currently an MP, consists of Nathipa Kulsettasit, party treasurer; Mr. Nakornpong Supanimittrakul, party member registrar; Mr. Somchai Fangchonlajit; and Ms. Amornrat Chokpamitkul. The party- list MPs will not be promoted to replace them because the list was lost due to the party being dissolved, causing the number of Move Forward Party MPs to drop from the current 148 in the House to 143. They will have to find a new political party within 60 days, including a by-election for Constituency 1, Phitsanulok, to replace Mr. Padipat. Meanwhile, the ruling to dissolve the party will also add weight to the ethics prosecution of 44 MPs who signed a petition to propose a draft amendment to the Criminal Code (No. ..) B.E. ... to repeal Section 112 of the Criminal Code, which is currently under consideration by the NACC. However, of the 44 MPs who submitted the draft law, 30 are currently MPs in the House. For the security measures to support the court's ruling, today the Constitutional Court has tightened security measures around the Ratchaburi Direkrit Building (Building A), which is the location of the Constitutional Court, according to the Constitutional Court's announcement on the area or area design ated for the Constitutional Court and the Constitutional Court Office to be used as a place of work, maintain security and order, dated July 31, 2024, which will be effective from 00.01 on Tuesday, August 6, until 23.59 on August 7, prohibiting anyone from entering the controlled area, except for those who have permission to come to work or come to contact the government, and must pass the inspection of the person and the belongings brought in according to the methods of the security and order officers because there may be an unsafe situation. Iron fences have been installed around the area both inside and outside the building, and coordination has been made with the Metropolitan Police Division 2 and Thung Song Hong Police Station to arrange police officers to provide security around the building, similar to the days of reading the verdicts in important cases in the past. As for the persons who will come to listen to the reading of the verdict, the Constitutional Court allows only the parties and related pe rsons. They must exchange cards, deposit items such as bags, mobile phones, electronic devices, and must pass through a weapons checkpoint, which will be located at the foot of the stairs leading up to the courtroom. In addition, the office has also facilitated the media and the public who come to listen to the verdict by installing a TV screen with speakers to broadcast the reading of the verdict. As for the general public, they can follow the results of the reading of the verdict via the Constitutional Court's YouTube channel from 3:00 p.m. onwards. For this case, the Constitutional Court spent more than 5 months considering it, since the order to accept the petition from the EC for consideration on April 3, 2024. The court did not open an investigation as requested by the Move Forward Party, but used the method of collecting evidence by having the parties involved submit a statement. As for the Move Forward Party, the court ordered the submission of a statement to respond to the accusations and ordered an extension of the submission period for the statement to respond to the accusations as requested by the Move Forward Party 3 times, totaling 60 days for the preparation of the statement to respond to the accusations. The court gave the parties evidence on July 9 before the meeting of the Constitutional Court judges on July 17. It was found that the case was a legal issue with sufficient evidence to make a decision. Therefore, it ordered the end of the investigation and gave the parties an opportunity to submit a statement of wrongdoing within July 24 before the meeting to vote and read the verdict at 3:00 p.m. tomorrow. Source: Thai News Agency