ZCZC
BFF- 34
THAILAND-POLITICS LEAD
Thai court strips opposition frontman of MP status: judge
BANGKOK, Nov 20, 2019 (BWSS/AFP) – The billionaire frontman of Thailand’s
anti-military bloc was stripped of his MP status on Wednesday over a media
shareholding case, a court ruling that could lead to him being banned from
politics and jailed for up to 10 years.
The leader of the upstart Future Forward party, Thanathorn
Juangroongruangkit, 40, shook up the country’s arch-royalist power structure
when his party became the third-largest in March elections.
But he has battled legal cases since and was suspended from parliament
earlier this year after accusations he held shares in a media company when he
registered as a candidate.
He denied the charges and said they are politically motivated, but judges
at the constitutional court ruled against him on Wednesday, calling his
evidence “suspicious”.
“The MP status of Thanathorn has ended,” Judge Worawit Kangsasitiam said.
His removal as an MP means that the Election Commission could bring
criminal charges that carry serious penalties – including a political ban and
imprisonment.
It also deals a gut punch to his party, which surged among young Thais
after it called to purge the military from politics, end military
conscription and slash defence spending.
Thanathorn has repeatedly insisted the 675,000 shares he held in V-Luck
Media were sold to his mother on January 8 — weeks before he registered to
run as a candidate.
But the court rejected the claim, saying there was no “official proof”
that the transfer took place on that day. Before walking into the court
Thanathorn urged his supporters not to lose hope.
“Future Forward is the people, Future Forward must carry on,” he said to
dozens of people waving the party’s signature orange flag and giving him
flowers.
The constitutional court disbanded a different anti-military opposition
party linked to former premier Thaksin Shinawatra right before the March
vote.
Thanathorn’s main rival is Thai premier Prayut Chan-O-Cha, a general who
led the coup in 2014 and was voted in as civilian premier with the help of
junta-appointed senators.
Future Forward has also come under fire for being a rare voice of
criticism against Thailand’s royalist establishment.
The monarchy, one of the world’s richest and headed by King Maha
Vajiralongkorn, is at the apex of Thai power. Last month, 70 Future Forward
MPs voted against a royal decree transferring two key army units to the
direct control of the king — an unprecedented political objection to a royal
command.
The decree still passed parliament with an overwhelming majority.
BSS/AFP/ARS/1559 hrs