Brandenburg's left-wing faction leader urges a ban on the AfD
The chairman of the left-wing parliamentary group in the Brandenburg state parliament, Sebastian Walter, has called for the AfD to be banned. "From the lessons of the Second World War, from the lessons of the Nazi era and from the lessons of the Weimar Republic, we should act much earlier," Walter told the newspaper "Nordkurier". "The AfD is now much more radical - especially here in Brandenburg - than the NPD ever was. And at the same time, it has significantly more power and influence." He could not stand the fact that a political force that persecutes political dissidents was being financed with public funds.
The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution classified the AfD as a suspected right-wing extremist organization in March 2021. In Thuringia and, since this year, in Saxony-Anhalt, the respective state AfD is classified as confirmed right-wing extremist by the state Office for the Protection of the Constitution. The Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Brandenburg classified the AfD state association as a suspected right-wing extremist case in 2020. The AfD, on the other hand, considers itself to be based on the free democratic basic order.
CDU member of parliament Marco Wanderwitz is also working on a motion to ban the AfD. Walter said that he had contacted him. In August, SPD leader Saskia Esken did not rule out an attempt to ban the AfD on ARD television if there was sufficient evidence from the Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
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, the court stated that the party represented "a political concept aimed at the elimination of the existing free democratic basic order". It is now examining the exclusion of the NPD from party funding.
The left-wing parties in Brandenburg's parliament are actively pushing for a ban on the AfD, as they believe the party's radical views and actions closely resemble those of previous extremist groups. In response to Walter's call, CDU member of parliament Marco Wanderwitz is also advocating for a ban on the AfD in the Federal Parliament.
Source: www.dpa.com
