In Thailand, will the Thai Raksa Chart party suffer the same fate as Princess Ubolratana’s bid for prime minister?

The controversial bid to make King Vajiralongkorn’s sister the next premier could end in the party’s dissolution, depending on a court verdict

A ruling against Thai Raksa Chart would be a blow for the anti-junta bloc aligned with Thaksin and Yingluck Shinawatra

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Supporters of the Thai Raksa Chart Party, which is facing possible dissolution by the election commission for allegedly breaching Thailand’s political party law, just over two weeks before the country’s election. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 8:04am, 7 Mar 2019Updated: 8:19am, 7 Mar 2019

Frenzied pre-election campaigning in Thailand will come to a brief pause on Thursday afternoon, as the politically divided country anxiously awaits a court verdict on whether the party behind an abortive bid to make King Maha Vajiralongkorn’s elder sister the next prime minister should be dissolved for that controversial proposal.

With the March 24 election just over two weeks away, observers say the possible dissolution of the Thai Raksa Chart party by the Constitutional Court will deal a body blow to the political bloc aligned with populist former prime ministers and siblings Thaksin and Yingluck Shinawatra.

Thai Raksa Chart is not the biggest of the parties loyal to the Shinawatras, but if it is dissolved, the large number of perceived safe seats that have been allocated to it risk falling into the clutches of the bloc’s main rival – the Palang Pracharat party backed by the country’s current junta.

Ahead of Thursday’s verdict, market watchers said local investors had gone into “wait-and-see mode”, with a sell-off expected following the verdict.

Police meanwhile tightened security around the Constitutional Court grounds in central Bangkok, mindful of the thousands of pro-Shinawatra supporters who gathered there the last time the nine-judge body convened in 2014 and issued a verdict that was unfavourable toward the bloc.