William J. Jones
Constitutional Court Ruling Central Features
The Court ruling had at its core a few important thrusts. First is the obvious: the Move Forward Party is no more, its executives banned from politics and party leader Pita Limchareonlat, the Kingdom’s most popular politician, is banned from politics for 10 years.
Second, the court inserted its supremacy in the constitutional order of institutions with regard to the political party platforms and legislative processes. It ruled that the party platform of Article 112 reform constituted a threat to state security because it did not state clearly that any change would not touch on Articles 1 and 2 of the constitution, which states that Thailand is an indivisible Kingdom with a regime of democracy with King as Head of State. In essence, the Court laid down a clear precedence by ruling that there can be no talk of, policy stance, or legal process which in any way touches on the royal institution whatsoever. The ruling was also clear that any change to mechanisms or laws surrounding the royal institution constituted a threat to state security. Furthermore, the court ruled that the policy platform of 112 reform brought the monarchy and royal institution into disrepute and politics to which the royal institution is supposed to be above. Some commentators argue that the court did not rule out change or reform of Article 112 but the court’s vagueness on what constituted a legal change to the law is read by this author as an ‘invisible goalpost’ which
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