By Thai Newsroom Reporters
THE MOVE FORWARD PARTY today (Oct, 26) delivered a statement to reiterate their unwavering ideologies in pursuit of amendment to the draconian lese majeste law.
Parit Wacharasindhu, manager of the Move Forward Party’s policies publicity campaigns, announced that the second-largest opposition party will resolutely put forward concerted moves to amend the lese majeste law, also known as Section 112 of the Criminal Code, in order to uphold social and political justice and foster constructive relationship between the people and constitutional monarchy.
The Move Forward Party’s utmost ideologies toward the lese majeste law and democratic rule are purely designed to not only uphold the monarchy and royal household but justify and enhance the legal protection of them whilst promoting justice for all parties concerned, Parit said.
More often than not, Parit said, the lese majeste law has been abusively and unjustly enforced by one party’s political opponents under the pretext of maintaining the highly-placed honours and prestige of the monarch and royal household.
Any partisan members and other people who may honestly express their opposing views against their political opponents on certain issues which may more or less involve the monarchy could probably be harshly punished under the unrestrained Section 112 though they have had no intention to offend the monarchy in the first place, according to the manager of the Move Forward policies publicity campaigns.
Every once in a while, Parit commented, the monarchy has been unknowingly, unsuitably mentioned by some politicians and high-ranking government officials only to conceal their undue gains over some corruption-riddled government projects under the excuse of running what may be officially called ”royal honour-celebrating projects”.
His comments were apparently made in response to strong objection raised by Bhumjaithai Party leader-cum-Deputy Prime Minister-cum-Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Chart Thai Pattana Party leader-cum-Natural Resources & Environment Minister Varawut Silpa-archa to all moves inside and outside of the political arena toward the amendment to the lese majeste law.
Parit said those partisan leaders and cabinet members may have either spontaneously misunderstood the Move Forward Party’s well-meaning standpoints toward the highly-complicated issue or simply overlooked and remained deeply biassed.
Nevertheless, the Move Forward Party has been proposing that legal penalties for those who may be sentenced by court on lese majeste charges be curtailed from a range of three to 15 years in prison to a maximum of one year in jail or a maximum of 300,000 baht in fine, he said.
More than 200 people, mostly being adolescent political activists, have been arrested and detained on lese majeste charges since the last few years.
CAPTIONS:
Top: Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat, right, and Progressive Movement leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, left. Photo: Matichon
Front Page: Parit Wacharasindhu, manager of the Move Forward Party’s policies publicity campaigns. Photo: Matichon Weekly
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