Thai court orders election-winning party to end campaign to amend royal defamation law

Bangkok [Thailand], February 1 : A Thai court has ordered the kingdom's most popular political party to end its campaign to amend the country's royal defamation law, CNN reported.
The Constitutional Court in Bangkok on Wednesday ruled that the Move Forward Party, which won the most seats in last year's election, violated the constitution through its campaign to amend the law, as per CNN.
The court ruled that the Move Forward Party and its leaders, including former prime ministerial hopeful Pita Limjaroenrat, sought to overthrow the constitutional monarchy through their actions.
As per CNN, the ruling is considered a blow to the Southeast Asian country's reform movement and the millions of young people who delivered a crushing defeat to the conservative, military-backed establishment by voting for change.
According to analysts, the ruling opens the door for further prosecutions to be brought, which could ultimately see Thailand's most successful party at the last election dissolved and bans and criminal charges levied on its leaders.
In its ruling, the court said many Move Forward lawmakers had campaigned to abolish the lese majeste law, face charges under the royal defamation legislation, or used their position to bail out others charged under it.
The court ordered the party to "stop any act, opinion expression via speech, writing, publishing or advertisement or conveying any message in other forms" with the aim to abolish or amend the law, as per CNN.