Thai politics on edge as court decides fate of anti-establishment party

BANGKOK — A court in Thailand will decide on Aug 7 the fate of the progressive opposition party, Move Forward, in a case that has compounded fears of a re-igniting of a power struggle between influential conservatives and popularly elected parties.

The Constitutional Court will rule on the poll body's request to dissolve the 2023 election winner Move Forward after the same court in January found its campaign to amend a law protecting the monarchy from criticism risked undermining Thailand's system of governance with the king as head of state.

Move Forward's anti-establishment agenda won huge support among voters but it clashed with Thailand's powerful nexus of old money families, conservatives and the military, to which reforming the lese-majeste law is a step too far in a country where royalists regard the monarchy as sacrosanct.

Move Forward's influential rivals coalesced to block the party from forming a government last year but it remains the biggest force in parliament with an agenda that includes military reform and undoing big business monopolies.

The party denies wrongdoing and was ordered to drop its campaign on the royal insults law. It is hopeful it will escape dissolution, arguing the election commission's complaint did not follow proper procedures.

The verdict comes as cracks appear in an uneasy truce between the royalist establishment and another longtime rival, the populist ruling party, Pheu Thai, with Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin facing possible dismissal by the same court next week over a cabinet appointment. He denies wrongdoing.

‘Reaching a crescendo’

"Once again, political risk and uncertainty is reaching a crescendo," said Nattabhorn Buamahakul, Managing Partner at government affairs