The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman has expressed concern over the prospect that the Move Forward party (MFP) may be dissolved and urged the Thai government to maintain a commitment to democratic values.
Committee chair Ben Cardin said in his “X” post:
“I am deeply concerned by developments in Thailand on the potential dissolution of the Move Forward Party.
“I urge Thai authorities to ensure fair treatment for MFP and respect (for) the will of the many Thai people who cast their votes in support of MFP candidates.”
Action against the MFP or these individuals must be rooted in due process and the rule of law. I urge our Thai partners to maintain a commitment to our shared democratic values.”
Earlier, ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR), a network advancing human rights, urged the international community to take preventive action to discourage, what it described as, the use of judicial instruments to dissolve the MFP.
APHR said democracy in Thailand is backsliding, not only due to a military coup, but also through dubious interpretations of laws employed to target opposition politicians.
If MFP is banned, like the Future Forward Party in 2019, millions of people will be disenfranchised and unrest that could destabilise Thailand is a real possibility, said APHR.
The Constitutional Court has set June 18 for deliberation of the Election Commission’s call for the dissolution the MFP and its executive committee members’ disbarment from politics for 10 years.
The case is based on a previous charter court ruling that, through its election campaign pledge to amend the lèse majesté law, MFP had attempted to overthrow the constitutional monarchy.
Main photo : US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Ben Cardin
