December 11, 20196 yr From Bloomberg News Election agency asks court to mull Future Forward dissolution Party head has warned elimination could be protest flash-point Thailand’s Election Commission petitioned a court to consider the break up of the country’s most high-profile opposition party, whose leader has warned that its dissolution could spark protests. Loans of 191.2 million baht ($6.3 million) to the Future Forward party from its chief Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit breached financing rules for political parties, the commission said in a statement Wednesday in Bangkok. “We absolutely disagree with the commission’s decision,” Piyabutr Saengkanokkul, the party’s secretary-general, said in a briefing. “We will continue to go forward with our duties. The decision today can’t stop our journey.” Future Forward is less than two years old but surged in Thailand’s disputed March election, which came after almost five years under a junta. Thanathorn is a critic of the royalist establishment’s grip on power, and his party’s goals include rewriting the military-backed charter and breaking up oligopolies. The commission asked the Constitutional Court to mull the financing case. The usual next step is for the court to decide whether to accept it or not. Thanathorn said last week that Thailand could see street protests again if establishment forces continue to resist democratic change, and signaled that dissolution could be a flash-point for demonstrations. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-12-11/thai-agency-seeks-break-up-of-highest-profile-opposition-party
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