The banning of Thai opposition party Future Forward illustrates the country's lack of separation of powers. It is time to acknowledge Thailand's military government is an authoritarian junta, says Rodion Ebbighausen.
Image: Reuters/Soe Zeya Tun
Advertisement
The decision by Thailand's Constitutional Court to disband the opposition Future Forward party does not bode well for the country's democracy. On top of this, high-ranking party members, among them leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, have been banned from engaging in Thai politics for ten years.
The court justified its decision by pointing to illegal donations that were reportedly made to the Future Forward party. Party leader Thanathorn is said to have gifted over 191 million Thai baht (€5.6 million, $6.4 million) to his party — even though the country's party funding law prohibits private donations in excess of €300,000.
While Thanathorn has admitted giving this money to the party, he says it was a loan, rather than a donation. Thailand's electoral commission, however, decided that loans and donations ought to be treated the same in this context. And Thailand's Constitutional Court evidently subscribed to this interpretation as well.
4K protest run in Thailand
02:55
This browser does not support the video element.
Show trial
These legal questions should not distract from the reality that this was essentially a show trial. And this, unfortunately, is all too common in Thailand. Future Forward is the fourth opposition party to be banned by the Constitutional Court in the past 13 years.
The real reason behind today's court decision is that the party won the third largest number of seats in last year's parliamentary elections. 41-year-old Thanatorn, who happens to be a millionaire, is popular especially with young Thais and Bangkok voters for challenging the Thai military. He has rejected the 2017 constitution that was drawn up by the military junta, calling it undemocratic.
Thailand: tangible anger
03:34
This browser does not support the video element.
Sham democracy
As the military only narrowly beat Thanatorn at the polls last year, it instrumentalized the Constitutional Court, electoral commission and public persecutor to go after his party. While officially independent, these institutions are staffed only by regime loyalists. And as such, they are regularly deployed to neutralize political adversaries.
Rodion Ebbighausen of DW's Asia deskImage: DW
The trial against Thanathorn once more proves that Thailand is effectively controlled by a military junta. It's not for nothing that the hashtag #Juntaland was coined after the coup.
Prior to the sentencing, Thahathorn had announced he would establish a new party should he lose and then support the extra-parliamentary opposition. Despite Friday's event, he is evidently determined to keep up his fight against the military.
Thailand is holding three days of coronation ceremonies for King Maja Vajiralongkorn, who ascended the throne in 2016. The ceremonies follow a period of mourning for his father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/J. Samad
Wearing a 200-year-old crown
In one of Saturday's ceremonies, the king put on a crown weighing 7.3 kilograms (16 pounds) and measuring 66 centimeters (26 inches) in height. It symbolizes his royal powers, which include the right to intervene in government affairs. "I shall reign in righteousness for the benefits of the kingdom and the people forever," he said in his traditional first royal command.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/Thai TV
Regal arrival
King Maja Vajiralongkorn arrived at the Grand Palace in Bangkok in a Daimler DE36 from the now-defunct British Daimler Company, with streets before the building lined with officials. Although he has already reigned as constitutional monarch since 2016, the ceremonies will fully and formally invest him with regal power.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/J. Samad
Army in attendance
No coronation would be complete without immaculately attired King's Guard soldiers. Thailand's army plays a major role in the country's politics and the country is currently ruled by a military junta since a 2014 coup. But opposition politicians are seeking to push the army out of politics.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/S. Lalit
Artillery salute
Cannon were fired to salute the king while ceremonies began in the Grand Palace. Horns and pipes also accompanied the moment when the king was anointed with consecrated water taken from more than a hundred sites across the country.
Image: Reuters/A. Perawongmetha
Water purification ritual
The king donned a white robe for the Royal Purification Ceremony, which saw him showered with water from old royal water vessels. The rites are a combination of Hindu and Buddhist practices and go back centuries. The king, who will also be known as Rama X, is the 10th in the Chakri dynasty, which has reigned since 1782.
Image: Reuters
Watching on television
The coronation, costing around $31 million (€27.6 million), was broadcast on television, with subjects also able to watch it on LED screens sited outside the palace. But people should avoid making any negative comments about the coronation or the king or they may risk severe penalties for lese-majeste.
Image: Getty Images/L. DeCicca
A royal procession
Wearing a traditional golden costume, the king was carried on a palanquin by orange-clad soldiers to greet more than 150,000 people sitting along the roads of Bangkok. Many of the spectators wore yellow — a color associated with the monarchy. The king's carriage was also surrounded by soldiers carrying swords and others playing music.
