Thailand’s lese majeste legislation carries punishment of up to 15 years in jail for each perceived insult or defamation against the king, queen, heir and regent.
Thailand’s monarchy is enshrined in the constitution to be held in a position of “revered worship”, and many royalists see the lese majeste law as sacrosanct.
The palace typically does not comment on the lese majeste law.
Rights activists say the law has been abused by conservative politicians to smear liberal opponents and stifle institutional reforms.
More than 260 people have been prosecuted under the legislation since 2020, including a man facing a record 50 years’ jail time over Facebook posts critical of the monarchy.
Move Forward has argued that its campaign to change Article 112 was aimed at strengthening the constitutional monarchy and preventing the law from being misused.
“We have no intention to overthrow the democratic system with the king as the head of state,” Move Forward spokesperson Parit Wacharasindhu told Reuters on Tuesday.
“We will prove our innocence at the Constitutional Court,” he said.
Pita Limjaroenrat, who led the party to its 2023 election victory, told Reuters in an interview last month that Move Forward had a succession plan if it was dissolved and that the party’s ideology would live on.
Move Forward’s anti-establishment platform, which includes plans to tackle business monopolies and to keep the military out of politics, is popular with voters but has put the party on a collision course with the interests of powerful conservatives.
The party’s predecessor, Future Forward, had championed similar policies and was disbanded in 2020 for violating campaign funding rules.
Source: CNA
