Disbanded Thai opposition Move Forward relaunches new party

BANGKOK, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) — Thailand’s disbanded opposition Move Forward Party relaunched a new political group the People’s Party on Friday, two days after a court-ruled dissolution over its constitutional violation.
The 143 members of the parliament who earlier belonged to the newly-dissolved party have joined the group and named 37-year-old former tech entrepreneur and Move Forward MP Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut as the new leader, the People’s Party announced.
Natthaphong told a press briefing that the group aims to secure enough seats in the next election to form a government.
Thailand’s Constitutional Court on Wednesday ordered the dissolution of the main opposition Move Forward Party, ruling its efforts to amend a law against defaming the kingdom’s royal family violated the constitution and imposing a decade-long ban on 11 members of the party’s executive board from politics.
The Move Forward Party emerged as the largest party in the lower house of the National Assembly in Thailand’s general election last year, but its prime minister candidate fell short of securing the majority support of parliamentarians.
The relaunch marked the third incarnation of the Future Forward Party, which was dissolved by a ruling of the same court in 2020 over its violation of election laws on donations to political parties. ■