The Constitutional Court of Thailand said Wednesday it accepted the Election Commission’s petition to rule on whether the opposition Move Forward Party (MFP) should be dissolved for proposing to amend the country’s royal insult law, which is also known as the “lèse-majesté” law. The MFP proposed to reduce sentences of lèse-majesté violations under Section 112 of the Criminal Code and require lèse-majesté complaints to be filed by the Royal Household Bureau.

The Election Commission claimed that the MFP violated Section 92 of the organic law on political parties by attempting to overthrow the country’s constitutional monarchy. The commission requested that, pursuant to Sections 92 and 94 of the organic law on political parties, the MFP should be disbanded and its executives should not be able to run for election or start a new party for 10 years.

The court previously ruled on January 31 that the MFP’s efforts to change the royal insult law are illegal and ordered the MFP to cease any attempts to push for change. The MFP denied that they were trying to overthrow the constitutional monarchy and said that the ruling would make the functioning of government more difficult.

The royal insult law criminalizes insults or threats towards the king, queen and heirs to the throne. The law imposes a sentence between three to 15 years of prison for each insult, defamatory remark or threat towards the monarchy.

Many Thai activists have been convicted under the lèse-majesté law. On January 17, Thailand activist and lawyer Arnon Nampa received his second conviction and four more years of imprisonment for violating the lèse-majesté law. The court found Nampa guilty of falsely portraying the monarch as misusing the country’s assets and spending extravagantly. On January 18, Thailand national and cloth merchant Mongkol “Busbas” Thirakot received his second conviction and a total of 50 years in prison for violating the lèse-majesté law. The court ruled that Thirakot’s actions, including posting “disrespectful images” and using “rude language” on social media, were intended to defame, insult or show hatred towards the king.

The MFP, born out of the dissolved Future Movement Party, is a political party known for its liberal and pro-reform policies. It won a significant number of seats in 2023 but was unable to seat prime minister candidate Pita Limjaroenrat due to opposition from the government.

The court has given the MFP 15 days to file its defense.