An opposition political party that attempted to nominate a member of the royal family as prime minister in Thailand’s upcoming election has been dissolved with immediate effect and its executives given a 10-year ban from politics, The Guardian reprted.

In a ruling announced on Thursday afternoon, Thailand’s constitutional court declared that Thai Raksa Chart, a political party formed only in October last year, had violated the constitution by putting forward Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya Sirivadhana Barnavadi, the older sister of the king, to be its chosen candidate for prime minister.

The court’s statement described Ulbolratana’s nomination as a “devious scheme” designed to give Thai Raksa Chart a political advantage which was both “hostile to the constitutional monarchy” and in breach of the Political Parties Act 2017. The dissolution of the party comes less than three weeks before the 24 March election.