Thailand's Constitution Tribunal on Wednesday dissolved the Thai Rak Thai (Thais Love Thais) party of deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, finding it guilty of electoral fraud but cleared the kingdom's oldest party, the Democrats, according to dpa. In what has been hailed as a watershed case for Thailand's battered democratic system, the tribunal was tasked Wednesday with deciding the fates of the country's two largest political parties, the Democrats and the Thai Rak Thai Party of former premier Thaksin, who was toppled by a coup on September 19 last year. The Constitution Tribunal took almost five hours to read its verdict on the Democrat Party and the much-smaller Prachathipaktay Kao Naa Party, which was found guilty of attempting to manipulate the outcome of the April 2, 2006 elections and dissolved. "This was a fair verdict, and a good development for the people," said former Democrat Party leader Banyat Banthatthan. The Democrat Party, which also faced dissolution if found guilty, is Thailand's oldest political party, celebrating its 61st anniversary this year. The guilty verdict against Thai Rak Thai (TRT) was announced close to midnight Wednesday and came as little surprise to political analysts. TRT and its executives were found guilty of hiring nominee parties to contest the April 2 polls in a bid to circumvent electoral rules that require candidates to win more than 80 per cent of the votes in uncontested constituencies. The Democrat party boycotted the April 2 polls, leaving many constituencies uncontested against TRT candidates. A guilty verdict against the TRT was expected. "It would not be consistent with the post-coup dynamics if the Thai Rak Thai was not dissolved," said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political scientist at Chulalongkorn university. Thailand's military establishment on September 19 staged a coup against Thaksin and his ruling Thai Rak Thai Party, on accusations of committing massive corruption, undermining democratic institutions and dividing the nation during their six years in power between 2001 and 2006. To allow the TRK party to return would have undermined the reason for the coup and would likewise have exposed the military to retribution in the aftermath of a general election scheduled in December this year, Thitinan said. The military has beefed up security in the capital in anticipation of protests after the tribunal's ruling, but TRT acting leader Chaturon Chaisaeng said Wednesday before the tribunal's ruling that the party had no plans to protest their verdict. "We will not protest the judgement," said Chaturon. "If we are dissolved we will find other political means of solving the situation though peaceful means." But several anti-coup groups have threatened to stage rallies Wednesday and Thursday nights, depending on the outcome of the case. "At this point, the plan to hold the rally stays, but it all depends on the situation," said Jakrapob Penkair, an executive of the PTV Group, which plans an anti-coup rally Thursday in Bangkok. "The point of consideration is how stable the political situation is after the ruling," Jakrapob said. General Sonthi Boonyaratkalin, the army chief who led the coup against Thaksin, has beefed up security with 13,000 police and army troops in the capital to preserve security after the landmark ruling.
