Thailand's Constitutional Court on Wednesday ordered the dissolution of the Move Forward Party (MFP) over its proposal to weaken a lese-majeste law that bans any criticism of the royal family, who are still held in extremely high regard by many across Thailand.

The party's leaders will also be banned from politics for ten years, including charismatic former frontman Pita Limjaroenrat

Judge Punya Udchachon said the nine-member panel had made the decision "unanimously."

The MFP had won a majority in legislative elections in 2023, but the party's anti-establishment message earned the ire of the country's powerful conservatives, military, and network of wealthy families.

The party had also promoted a reform of the armed forces and pledged to break up powerful monopolies.

Some 140 former party members will be allowed to keep their seats in parliament and are expected to form a new party.

"Let's be sad today for one day but tomorrow we will move on and let's release the frustration through the next ballot we will cast in the next election," Pita told a news conference on Wednesday evening, saying the party's project "would move foward in a new vehicle."

'Pita is my PM'

Outside the MFP's headquarters in Bangkok, dozens of supporters dressed in the party's trademark orange color gathered to express their support.

"To me, Pita is my PM," Sakhorn Kamtalang, 60, told the AFP news agency. "The current PM is just a salesman, who isn't fit as the country leader."

Another supporter, 53-year-old market vendor Siriporn Tanapitiporn, cried after the verdict was read out but said: "I have faith in the younger generation, they will return the democracy back to our country."

US, EU and rights groups condemn Thailand

Move Forward leader Chaithawat Tulathon told reporters that the decision set a dangerous precedent for the way the constitution is interpreted.

Responding to the news, the United States said it was "deeply concerned" by the dissolution of the Move Forward Party which it said "disenfranchises the more than 14 million Thais" who voted for it.

"The Constitutional Court's decision also jeopardizes Thailand's democratic progress and runs counter to the aspirations of the Thai people for a strong, democratic future," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.

"As a close ally and friend with deep and enduring ties, we urge Thailand to take actions to ensure fully inclusive political participation, and to protect democracy and the freedoms of association and expression," Miller added. 

The European Union also criticized the move, a spokesperson saying in a statement: "No democratic system can function without a plurality of parties and candidates."

Amnesty International described the decision as "untenable" and said it showed that laws in Thailand were being abused to intimidate critics.

The Asian Forum for Human Rights said it posed "serious risks to democratic principles."

Shaky political landscape

Despite their election victory last year, the party's powerful rivals were able to form a bloc that effectively prevented Move Forward from forming a government.

"The party will not stop growing in popularity and this will only lead to more polarlization in Thai society," Siripan Nogsuan Sawasdee, a political science professor at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, told DW. 

Move Forward had been accused of undermining Thailand's system of governance with the king as head of state.

It had been ordered to drop the lese-majeste reform proposal in a separate ruling by the same court six months ago, and subsequently dropped the proposal from its platform. 

However, the Election Commission still pressed for the party's dissolution.

The verdict came amid other cracks in Thailand's political landscape.

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin of the ruling populist Pheu Thai party faces dismissal by the same court over appointing a cabinet minister who was once jailed over bribery charges.

Thavisin and the royalist establishment have been in an uneasy truce since he came to power last year.

The case against Thavisin was launched by 40 military-appointed senators. Thailand was ruled by a military junta from 2014 to 2019.

es,mf/wmr (AP, Reuters, AFP)