“We will continue the ideology of Move Forward. The mission for me and the party is to form a government for change in 2027,” Natthaphong said at a press conference.
The dissolution of Thailand’s parliament, which was criticized by the United States, Britain and the European Union, was the latest salvo in a two-decade-long power struggle in Thailand that pits the conservative establishment and the royalist military broadly against popularly elected parties.
The Move Forward party’s liberal agenda has won massive support among young and urban voters, but it has also earned powerful enemies: its plans include military reform and breaking up corporate monopolies worth billions of dollars each year.
Her attempt to change a law on royal insults proved to be her undoing, pitting her against influential generals and widely connected royalists who viewed the monarchy as sacrosanct.
Although the court ordered Move Forward to abandon its campaign in a January ruling, Natthaphong said the new party would continue to campaign for changes to the law known as Article 112, but with caution.
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Thailand’s reformist political party Move Forward dissolved due to lese majeste law
Thailand’s reformist political party Move Forward dissolved due to lese majeste law
Thailand’s lese majeste law is one of the strictest of its kind in the world. Any alleged insult to the crown can result in a prison sentence of up to 15 years. The palace does not usually comment on the law.
“We have said that we will propose an amendment to Article 112 to ensure that this law is not a political tool used to abuse others, but we will not be careless,” Natthaphong said.
“I think we will continue to push for the improvement and correction of this still problematic law.”
Nattapong has a degree in computer engineering and was deputy secretary general of Move Forward, where he worked on the party’s digital policy, which was crucial to its election victory.
The English name People’s Party was frequently used by the Khana Ratsadon, who launched a revolution in 1932 that ended the country’s absolute monarchy.
