In Thailand, constitutional court orders political party to cease attempts to amend lese-majeste law

The Constitutional Court has ordered the Move Forward Party to cease all attempts to amend the lese-majeste law, saying that campaigning on the issue is considered an attempt to overthrow the constitutional monarchy. The unanimous ruling on [31 January] against the party that won the most votes — 14.4 million — in the May 2023 election could set a precedent for any future review of one of the world’s strictest royal defamation laws. It was not clear whether the ruling would also apply to any others who make public comments about the royal defamation law. Move Forward leader Chaithawat Tulathon said shortly after the ruling was announced that the party would wait for the official text from the court before deciding its next step. [...] While the party accepted the ruling, Mr Chaithawat said it would lead to a “loss of political space” to discuss important issues in the future. The court said the plan to amend the royal defamation law showed “an intent to separate the monarchy from the Thai nation, which is significantly dangerous to the security of the state”. The nine-judge panel had no remit in this particular case to prescribe punishments for Move Forward, but some politicians have suggested legal efforts could now begin to seek the dissolution of the party and political bans for its leaders. T
Read the full article here: Bangkok Post