ไทย 2 เท่า ('Elevated and Equal Thailand')[24][25] อนาคตใหม่คืออนาคตที่อำนาจสูงสุดเป็นของประชาชน ('The future we aspire to is the future where the ultimate power truly belongs to the people')
TheFuture Forward Party (FFP;Thai:พรรคอนาคตใหม่,RTGS: Phak Anakhot Mai[pʰákʔā.nāː.kʰótmàj]; otherwise known as 'New Future Party') was a social democratic and progressiveThai political party from March 2018 to February 2020.
The party was founded on 14 March 2018[26][27] byThanathorn Juangroongruangkit, the former vice president of Thai Summit Group, andPiyabutr Saengkanokkul, a legal scholar.[28][29] The party was founded on a progressive platform that sought to restrain the military's power in Thai politics, decentralize the bureaucracy, and improve social and economic equality.[30][31] The party was dissolved by the Constitutional Court on 21 February 2020.[32][33]
In September 2018, the Future Forward Party was officially recognized by theElection Commission, allowing the party to start registering members and solicit funding.[34] Piyabutr said that ItalianMarxist thinkerAntonio Gramsci's idea was main key to established Future Forward Party.[35]
In the2019 election, the party won 30 constituency seats in parliament and 50 party-listMPs, including Thanathorn and Piyabutr, a result significantly better than had been expected for a new party.[36] It also later gained an additional seat from a by-election inChiang Mai, giving it a total of 81 seats.[37]
Following the election, the party faced various legal challenges, which party leader Thanathorn says are politically motivated.[38] Thanathorn was accused of violating election law by the Election Commission, resulting in the Constitutional Court temporarily suspending his MP status until a ruling was reached.[39] Despite this, FFP and six allied anti-junta parties nominated Thanathorn as a candidate for prime minister, but lost to incumbent prime minister and junta leaderPrayut Chan-o-cha.[40] Thanathorn was ultimately disqualified by the Constitutional Court.[41] One prominent case against the party, which the Constitutional Court accepted in July 2019, alleged that FFP sought to overthrow the monarchy. As evidence, the resemblance between the party's triangular symbol and that of theIlluminati was cited.[42][43] The case was dismissed in January 2020.[44]
On 16 December 2019, the party's executives and MPs voted to expel four MPs who had consistently voted against the party line, reducing its total to 76 MPs.[45]
The party was dissolved in a Constitutional Court ruling on 21 February 2020, which said that the party was in violation of election laws regarding donations to political parties. The party was loaned 191.2 millionbaht (about US$6 million) from its leader, Thanathorn, which, according to the court, counted as a donation.[46] The dissolution order drew criticism from commentators inside and outside the country, who characterized it as part of the military's continued interference in Thai politics, noting that the party's vocal anti-military position made it a target and that the other parties' finances were not similarly scrutinized.[47][48][49][50]
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Prior to the court ruling that disbanded his party, Thanathorn disclosed in an interview that, in the event of the party's dissolution, "...we will continue our political journey as a social movement, we'll build a new one outside the parliament. If they dissolve our party, there will be two paths running in parallel—one is a new party in parliament, running under a new name but the same ideology, and the second is a social movement...."[51] The court decision meant that the 65 remaining Future Forward MPs had to find a new party within 60 days. Ten list seats held by now-banned party executives will also have to be reallocated. It is not clear whether the Election Commission will allow candidates on the FFP party list to replace those ten. Competing parties were expected to woo the displaced Future Forward MPs, but the FFP stated that a new party would be ready to accommodate those who wanted to continue its work.[52] A few days after the dissolution, nine MPs defected from the party to join theBhumjaithai Party in the government coalition.[53] On 8 March 2020, 55 of the remaining 56 MPs announced their relocation to theMove Forward Party underPita Limjaroenrat, vowing to continue the work of Future Forward.[54] The remaining member joined theChartthaipattana Party.[55] The extra-parliamentary successor of the FFP, theProgressive Movement, has been announced by former party leader Thanathorn, with an agenda of pushing for further reforms and amending the constitution.[56]
The Election Commission is likely to hear criminal charges against the FFP's leadership, which could result in three to five years imprisonment.[57]
^Haffner, Andrew (17 February 2020)."Thanathorn: Future on trial".Southeast Asia Globe.Archived from the original on 15 July 2020. Retrieved23 February 2020.
