Thailand: Constitutional Court dissolves opposition party New Future

Text by: Carol Isoux

The Constitutional Court dissolved this Friday, February 21, one of the main opposition parties, the New Future party, because of a loan contracted during the electoral campaign. A worrying development for the continuation of the democratic life of the country.

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With our correspondent in Bangkok,

The Court held that the € 5 million loan granted by Thanathorn, the leader of New Future , to his own party during the 2019 election campaign, contravened the laws on the funding of political parties.

New Future had seen a meteoric rise last year, winning more than 80 seats in Parliament thanks to the youth plebiscite, but had quickly turned into the number one public enemy of the former ruling military junta, the subject about twenty legal proceedings.

Friday, the activists welcomed the news with bitterness and disappointment but, at the call of their leader, they remain mobilized. The struggle moves, but continues. " Of course, we are sad about what just happened, but as long as the junta is in power, the struggle continues. So we will continue our fight, our approach They can dissolve our party, but not the people, nor the ideology ... "

Banished from political life for ten years, Thanathorn and the other leaders of New Future have announced that they want to lead a large social movement to change the country thanks to its civil society. The sensitive themes of the place of the army in the life of the country, the functioning of Justice or the relationship of the monarchy will now be tackled outside of Parliament.

Other procedures are still underway which could send Thanathorn to prison for the next five years.

The Future Forward party has truly established itself as the enemy of the militarization of political life in Thailand. It is a party that has incredible support among young people, but not only.

Eugénie Mérieau

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