Move Forward Party (MFP) chief adviser Pita Limjaroenrat has accused the Election Commission (EC) of double standards for its petition to the Constitutional Court seeking to disband the party.
Mr Pita on Sunday published an update on the MFP's fight to avoid the same fate as its predecessor, the Future Forward Party, suffered in 2020, emphasising the EC's process of filing complaints against the MFP is unlawful.
He said the EC has a double standard because its decision was based only on Section 92 of the organic law on political parties, which authorises the EC to file a request with the Constitutional Court to disband the MFP without conducting an inquiry.
Mr Pita said it is evident that Section 93 of the law cannot be exercised without a connection to Section 92. If both sections are exercised separately in a party dissolution case, a double standard will occur, he said.
Section 92 says that when credible evidence exists that any party has carried out acts that undermine the constitutional monarchy, the EC should petition the court to dissolve that party.
Section 93, meanwhile, says the party registrar, when discovering such acts, should gather facts and evidence and present it to the EC for consideration, which would follow the rules and methods specified by the commission.
He added the EC could exercise only Section 92 in a party dissolution case it wished to accelerate, but if it wants to slow down the process, it could exercise both sections consecutively.
However, if both sections are exercised separately in the dissolution case against the MFP, the party would be on an "expressway" to dissolution compared to the slow lanes other parties are put on, said Mr Pita.
"The question is, can the EC use its discretion like this without anyone else involved in the decision?"
He also emphasised the need for a party facing dissolution to dispute the charges with the EC.
This is also underscored by the document drafted by the EC itself in November last year, which says that a party facing such a case must be allowed to acknowledge and argue the case with the EC before it is submitted to the court.
The EC has already responded to the MFP's complaints, denying the party is being treated unjustly.
The court ordered the MFP on June 19 to prepare evidence within seven days for a hearing this Wednesday.
