Parliament - SPD and CDU are critical of the Left's proposal to ban the AfD
The CDU and SPD parliamentary groups in Brandenburg's state parliament have expressed reservations about the left-wing faction's call for the AfD to be banned. The proposal by the chairman of the left-wing parliamentary group, Sebastian Walter, is unsuitable, it is a "half-baked idea", said CDU parliamentary group leader Jan Redmann on Tuesday in Potsdam. He referred to the unsuccessful ban proceedings against the NPD. The AfD must be dealt with politically and it must be pointed out that it (...) "is up to no good with our German fatherland", said Redmann.
With regard to the failed ban proceedings against the NPD in 2017, Redmann said that such proceedings would help those against whom the ban had been applied for. He therefore felt that the Left's proposal was negligent. Walter should consider what a "disservice he is doing to democracy" with these ideas.
SPD parliamentary group leader Daniel Keller said that the hurdles for a ban were very high and that this demand should not be used in an inflationary manner. Green parliamentary group leader Benjamin Raschke, however, said that in his view there was much to be said for a legal review of a ban. "The AfD is a great evil for our country."
Left-wing parliamentary group leader Walter renewed his call for an AfD ban on Tuesday. It is not about eliminating "political competition", Walter said in the state parliament. The party is a rallying point for "violent neo-Nazis".
Recently - after he renewed his call for the AfD to be banned a few days ago - he had come under increased hostility, Walter said. He said that these attacks came from the AfD environment. As an example, during a press conference in the state parliament on Tuesday, he showed a letter in which he was called a "Jewish pig", among other things.
In November, Walter had called AfD parliamentary group leader Hans-Christoph Berndt and state parliament vice president Andreas Galau of the AfD "Nazi pigs". Walter said on Tuesday that he had "overshot the mark", at least with the "animal label". However, he stood by the first part of the word.
He could only explain Mr. Walter's "constant outbursts at ever shorter intervals" by the fact that the leader of the left-wing parliamentary group was losing his nerve in view of his party's poor poll results, said AfD leader Berndt. "First it was 'We'll confront them', then 'You don't talk to Nazis' and the third stage is 'We'll ban them'." Sebastian Walter is not in a position to "deal with the AfD argumentatively".
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) does not believe in a possible ban procedure. The constitutional hurdles for banning a party are rightly very high.
The AfD state association has been classified as a suspected right-wing extremist party by the Brandenburg Office for the Protection of the Constitution since 2020. The AfD considers this to be wrong and considers itself to be based on the free democratic basic order.
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- The CDU and SPD, two major political parties in Brandenburg's state parliament, have expressed reservations towards the left-wing faction's proposal to ban the AfD.
- Jan Redmann, the CDU parliamentary group leader, criticized the proposal as a "half-baked idea," referring to the unsuccessful ban proceedings against the NPD in 2017.
- The SPD parliamentary group leader, Daniel Keller, argued that the hurdles for a ban are very high, and this demand should not be used in an inflationary manner.
- Left-fraction leader Sebastian Walter renewed his call for an AfD ban in the state parliament, stressing that the party is a rallying point for "violent neo-Nazis."
- Hans-Christoph Berndt, the AfD parliamentary group leader, accused Walter of losing his nerve due to his party's poor poll results and not being able to "deal with the AfD argumentatively."
- Brandenburg Office for the Protection of the Constitution classifies the AfD state association as a suspected right-wing extremist party, a label the AfD vehemently opposes.
Source: www.stern.de
