Thai court orders election winners to abandon plan to change royal insults law

Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - Former Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat reacts on the day Thailand's Constitutional Court delivers its verdict on election winner's bid to amend a law against insulting the monarchy, in Bangkok, Thailand, January 31, 2024. — Reuters pic

BANGKOK, Jan 31 — A Thai court today ruled that the biggest party in parliament had violated the constitution with its plans to change a law against insulting the monarchy, saying the campaign was a hidden effort to undermine the powerful crown.

In a verdict that will set a precedent for future reviews of one of the world’s strictest lese majeste laws, the Constitutional Court ordered the Move Forward Party to cease a campaign it called damaging to the monarchy, an institution it said was central to Thai identity and national security.

Move Forward won the most votes in last year’s election on an anti-establishment platform that included a once unthinkable proposal to amend article 112 of the criminal code, which carries penalties of up to 15 years in jail for each perceived insult of the royal family.

Thailand’s king is enshrined in the constitution to be held in a position of “revered worship”.

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“The action of the accused displays the use of freedom of thought to demand the destruction of the democratic system of governance with the king as the head of state, hidden within, and through the call to amend article 112 of the criminal code as party policy,” the court said in delivering the verdict.

Move Forward’s agenda has resonated among millions of young and urban voters, but its proposal to change the law insulating the palace from criticism outraged conservatives, and saw its attempts to form a government torpedoed by lawmakers allied with the royalist military.

Battle ahead

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In a country where reverence for the monarch has for decades been promoted as central to national identity, article 112, under which at least 260 people have been prosecuted in the past four years, is seen by many royalists as sacrosanct.

Though the court had no remit to punish Move Forward, the ruling is expected to trigger a wider legal effort by the party’s opponents to seek its dissolution and lengthy political bans for its leaders over the plan to amend the law, which has yet to be proposed as legislation.

The party’s predecessor, Future Forward, had championed similar policies and was disbanded in 2020 for violating campaign funding rules.

“This verdict may make the monarchy more a point of contention in Thai society. That would be more negative for the monarchy,” Move Forward leader Chaithawat Tulathon told reporters, denying an attempt to overthrow the constitutional monarchy.

“The verdict will not impact Move Forward, but will impact democracy and freedom for all Thais. This is a matter that concerns all of us.”

With charismatic leaders and creative use of social media, Move Forward is hugely popular in Thailand, but its liberal, disruptive agenda, including plans to dismantle business monopolies, has put it on a collision course with powerful interest groups.

The court case was the latest twist in a two-decade battle for power in Thailand that broadly pits a nexus of royalists, military and old money families against parties elected on populist or progressive platforms.

Activists say article 112 has been abused by conservative politicians to smear liberal opponents and stifle institutional reforms. Move Forward had argued changing it would strengthen the constitutional monarchy and stop the law being misused.

The palace typically does not comment on the lese majeste law. International human rights groups have condemned its use as extreme, including a man facing a record 50 years of prison time over Facebook posts critical of the monarchy. — Reuters