BANGKOK (TIP): Thailand’s main opposition party relaunched on Aug 9 under a new name and new leadership after its old version won a majority of votes in last year’s election but was forced to dissolve by a court this week. The new party will be led by technology entrepreneur Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut and will be known as “Prachachon,” meaning “people,” party official Parit Wacharasindhu told reporters in Bangkok. The party will be called the “People’s Party” in English.
“The reason for this name is that we want to be a party of the people, by the people and for the people, to move Thailand forward so that the people can be the supreme power.”
On Wednesday, the Constitutional Court voted unanimously to dissolve the Move Forward Party (MFP), the vanguard of the country’s young democracy movement, and barred its board members from politics for a period of ten years.
Among those excluded was Pita Limjaroenrat, 43, who led the reform-minded MFP to a surprise first place in last year’s general election after appealing to young and urban voters with his promise to reform Thailand’s strict royal defamation law.
Pita’s political career was already shaken in March, when the Thai Election Commission asked the Supreme Court to dissolve the MFP.
It had previously been decided that the party’s promise to reform the lese majeste law amounted to an attempt to overthrow the constitutional monarchy.
In Thailand, the accusation of lèse majesté is extremely serious, because King Maha Vajiralongkorn enjoys a quasi-divine status there and is thus placed above politics.
The European Union, the United States, the United Nations and human rights groups strongly criticized the court’s decision. The EU believes it harms Thailand’s democratic openness.
“Change government”
Parit said there was “still room” to talk about the lese majeste law, even though the Constitutional Court had dissolved the MFP because it was pushing for reform of the law.
“What we saw as a problem of lèse majesté is still a problem today,” Parit said when asked about the party’s stance on the laws.
Natthaphong, who has more than 10 years of experience in computer science and IT business, according to his Linkedin profile, said he is ready to become Thailand’s next prime minister after the next national election in 2027. (AFP)
