Parties - AfD ban debate: SPD shows restraint
The Brandenburg SPD has taken a cautious stance in the debate about banning the AfD. In its ruling on the NPD ban proceedings, the Federal Constitutional Court determined that the party ban is the sharpest sword, General Secretary David Kolesnyk told the German Press Agency. "In this respect, it is important to regularly look at what measures can be taken in the interests of a defensible democracy with regard to any anti-constitutional endeavors." The starting point is the assessment of the constitution protection and security authorities.
SPD leader Saskia Esken considers a motion to ban the AfD to be an option. "Such a party ban is rightly subject to high hurdles. But I am convinced that we should keep looking into it," Esken told the German Press Agency. New state parliaments will be elected in Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg in September. The AfD is leading the polls in all three eastern states.
According to the Basic Law, a party can be banned if it actively campaigns against the free democratic basic order and has a certain chance of success. Brandenburg's left-wing parliamentary group leader Sebastian Walter called for the AfD to be banned at the end of November. "We will confront the AfD politically and fight it. It is and remains a threat to democracy," he said at the end of December.
In 2017, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a ban on the National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD), as there was no evidence that the party could successfully achieve its anti-constitutional goals. However, it stated that the party represented "a political concept aimed at the elimination of the existing free democratic basic order".
"The ban on anti-constitutional parties and endeavors, regardless of their ideological origin, is quite clearly regulated following the decisions of the Federal Constitutional Court on the NPD," said the SPD Secretary General. "However, this also means that there is no blanket answer." In any case, the independent federal and state constitution protection authorities were doing their job first. "Part of a defensible democracy is that the findings of the constitutional protection authorities are evaluated and it is examined whether action needs to be taken accordingly."
In 2020, the Brandenburg Office for the Protection of the Constitution classified the AfD state association as a suspected right-wing extremist organization, and last year the youth organization Junge Alternative in Brandenburg as a confirmed right-wing extremist movement. The AfD considers itself to be based on the free democratic basic order. In Saxony, Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution rates the AfD as a confirmed right-wing extremist organization.
AfD parliamentary group leader Hans-Christoph Berndt considers the discussion about banning the party to be a "political declaration of bankruptcy" by the other parties. The debate is also "proof that the defamation of the AfD as right-wing extremist and anti-constitutional has failed to achieve its purpose", said Berndt. He called for the firewalls against the AfD to come down.
Read also:
- A clan member is punished here
- Traffic lawyer warns: Don't talk to the police!
- Will he be convicted as Jutta's murderer after 37 years?
- He also wanted to kill his cousin
- The debate about banning the AfD in Thuringia has sparked varied responses from different political parties.
- The Federal Constitutional Court's ruling on the NPD ban proceedings in Potsdam serves as a guiding principle for the SPD in assessing the AfD's potential ban.
- The Federation of Free Democrats (FDP) in Brandenburg has distanced itself from the call for an AfD ban, emphasizing the importance of upholding democracy and the rule of law in extremism combat.
- Saskia Esken, the SPD leader, has not ruled out a prohibition request against the AfD, advocating for regular reviews of measures to safeguard democracy in the face of anti-constitutional tendencies.
- In response to the renewed discussion about banning the AfD, the Secretary General of the SPD underlined the clarity of the Federal Constitutional Court's decisions concerning the NPD ban and the need for an independent evaluation of the constitution protection authorities' findings.
- Brandenburg's Minister of Interior, Sylvia Schulze, questioned the necessity of banning the AfD, emphasizing the protection of democracy through constitutional means.
- The SPD, SPD, as well as the Green Party in Saxony, have rejected calls to ban the AfD, arguing that comprehensive measures to uphold democracy and the free democratic basic order are already in place, and a ban might compromise majority rule.
Source: www.stern.de
