BANGKOK – Mr Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, the leader of the progressive, anti-military Future Forward Party, was disqualified as an elected Member of Parliament by the Constitutional Court on Wednesday (Nov 20), a development that may have a domino effect on his party’s survival and the overall political status quo.

In May, Mr Thanathorn, a 40-year-old former auto parts tycoon, was suspended as an MP by the court minutes after he was sworn in, over his alleged media shares.

The court found him guilty on Wednesday of violating the Constitution by holding shares worth 6.75 million baht (S$303,000) in a media company. Section 98(3) of the Constitution aims to prevent holders of political positions from influencing media through share ownership.

Maintaining his innocence and refuting the charge as politically motivated, Mr Thanathorn said he had sold his shares in V-Luck Media, a magazine publishing company, to his mother on Jan 8 and that the company had already ceased its operations before the electoral law came into effect on Jan 23.

But the judges deemed his defence to be “lacking weight” and “full of irregularities”, as the share transfer was only reported to the Commerce Ministry on March 21. He had registered as an MP candidate in early February.

Although Mr Thanathorn is confident his case will not affect his party’s stability and survival, Wednesday’s ruling could lead to the dissolution of the party, the third-best-performing one in the March election, if the Election Commission files a criminal case against him at the Supreme Court.

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