Thai party accused of Illuminati links faces break up

Bloomberg

Thailand’s second-biggest opposition party faces possible dissolution on Tuesday in a court case that could spur more pro-democracy protests against a military-backed government.
The Constitutional Court will rule on a petition that the Future Forward party and its leaders want to overthrow the monarchy, which sits at the summit of power in Thailand. One of the claims is that the party logo evokes the secret
Illuminati sect “believed to be behind the unseating of monarchies in Europe.”
The term “Illuminati” traces back hundreds of years and has become a watchword for discredited conspiracy theories about secretive groups trying to control world affairs. Future Forward has denied the allegations, saying they are part of a crackdown on dissent by the royalist establishment after a disputed March election that ended five years of direct military rule.
Coup leader Prayuth Chan-Ocha returned as premier after the poll but is a polarising figure.
Thai royalists have disbanded multiple pro-democracy political parties over the past two decades, spurring a cycle of destabilisation that has contributed to slower economic growth compared with neighbours such as Indonesia and Vietnam.

Political Risk
“A dissolution ruling based on the Illuminati case will be difficult for the Thai people to live with,” said Paul Chambers, a politics expert at Naresuan University’s College of Asean Community Studies in northern Thailand. “This could widen the anti-government movement.”
While political tension remains lower than during past episodes of bloody street unrest, thousands of people rallied last month in Bangkok against the prospect of Future Forward’s looming break up.
The party finished third in the election on a platform that includes rewriting the military-backed charter, curbing the army’s influence and breaking up oligopolies.
Future Forward’s disbandment could strengthen the ruling coalition — which has a slim majority — by removing a fierce critic and opening up the
possibility of poaching some its lawmakers.
Party leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, a former tycoon already banned from parliament over media shareholding breaches that he denies, said in December the party and some of its officials face a slew of other cases.
“One way or another the party will likely get dissolved,” said Punchada Sirivunnabood, an associate professor in politics at Mahidol University near Bangkok. “The government may become stronger in parliament, but a dissolution will also create a stronger people’s movement against it. The country will be even more divided.”