BANGKOK, September 25 — Thailand’s Constitutional Court is weighing a case that could dissolve the Move Forward Party and potentially force a rerun of the country’s 2023 general election, a decision that would deepen political uncertainty in Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy. The progressive party won the most seats in the May 14, 2023 election, drawing support from younger and urban voters behind a platform of military reform and amending the lese-majeste law, which shields Thailand’s monarchy from criticism.
The court case centers on allegations that Move Forward’s campaign pledge to amend the royal defamation law amounted to an attempt to overthrow the constitutional monarchy.
A Court With a History
The same court dissolved the party’s predecessor, the Future Forward Party, in 2020 over a loan from its founder. That ruling sparked months of student-led street protests. Move Forward’s prime ministerial candidate, Pita Limjaroenrat, was blocked from taking office after the 2023 vote when the military-appointed Senate refused to back him.
He was later suspended from parliament by the Constitutional Court over a media shareholding complaint. A separate case before the court could also see Pita and other party executives banned from politics for up to ten years.
If Move Forward is dissolved, its MPs would have 60 days to find a new party or lose their seats, potentially forcing by-elections or a broader electoral rerun. The uncertainty has weighed on Thai financial markets, with the baht and the Stock Exchange of Thailand index showing volatility around key court dates.
Strategic Stakes
Thailand has seen more than a dozen coups and attempted coups since the end of absolute monarchy in 1932, and its courts have repeatedly played a decisive role in removing elected governments. The 2008 dissolution of the People’s Power Party and the 2014 removal of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra are the clearest precedents. The current government is led by Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin of the Pheu Thai party, which formed a coalition with military-linked parties after the 2023 election, alienating many Move Forward supporters.
A dissolution ruling would likely reignite the street protest movement that has been largely dormant since 2021, when clashes between police and demonstrators demanding royal reform shook Bangkok. The court’s decision is expected in the coming weeks.
Its outcome will shape whether Thailand returns to the ballot box or slides back toward the cycle of protest and crackdown that has defined its politics for nearly two decades.
