Let’s discuss lawfare in Germany and the move to ban Germany’s second most popular party.
In Germany, as happened with Trump in the US, political opponents of AfD want to exclude the party from the next federal elections.
A Move to Ban AfD
Please note German Lawmakers Initiate Process to Ban Far-Right AfD Party. The term “far right” is a media label, that many dispute.
A group of 113 German lawmakers from various factions have signed an application to initiate proceedings to ban the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, public broadcaster ZDF reported on Wednesday.
Marco Wanderwitz, a conservative lawmaker from the center-right CDU, said their application has been submitted to the German parliament’s President Barbel Bas. He emphasized the urgency of the matter, citing the upcoming new election as a critical factor in the timing of this action.
The primary objective is to submit and vote on the application during the current legislative period, potentially enabling the Federal Constitutional Court to commence proceedings, according to the lawmaker.
According to the German constitution, the parliament (Bundestag), the Federal Council (Bundesrat) and the government can apply to the Federal Constitutional Court to ban a party for its anti-constitutional goals or anti-democratic behavior.
In the past, several attempts to ban far-right parties had failed due to legal controversies, lack of objective evidence, or mistakes made in case preparation.
The Federal Constitutional Court turned down an application to ban the far-right NPD party in 2003 on the grounds that some of the party officials used as witnesses were informants of the domestic intelligence agency.
A second attempt to outlaw the NPD also failed in 2017, as the federal judges concluded that the party did not have the potential to realize its anti-constitutional or anti-democratic activities.
The AfD party has significantly increased its vote share in recent years by campaigning against migration, stoking fears of Muslims and immigrants. The party has also benefited from widespread dissatisfaction with Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his coalition government, and fears of an economic downturn.
Will Germany’s Far-Right AfD Party Be Banned?
DW asks Will Germany’s Far-Right AfD Party Be Banned?
Their chance of success is uncertain, but a cross-party group of Bundestag parliamentarians, led by lawmaker Marco Wanderwitz of the center-right Christian Democrats (CDU) is attempting it anyway: On Thursday, 37 lawmakers announced that they would seek to ban the partially right-wing extremist Alternative for Germany (AfD). Together, they represent 5% of parliament — a requirement to take their initiative to the next stage: a parliamentary vote which, if passed, would bring the matter before the Federal Constitutional Court.
“After the terrible rule of the National Socialists [Nazis], it is important to prevent a party which is in large parts right-wing extremist and ethno-nationalist from becoming powerful in Germany again,” said Wanderwitz.
Carmen Wegge, a lawmaker with the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) agrees. “In Germany, democracy has already once been abolished by democratic means, and our continent was plunged into ruin,” she said.
The AfD already has considerable influence. The party has 77 lawmakers in the Bundestag, the lower house of parliament, and it even became the largest party in the eastern state of Thuringia following elections there in September. The AfD also won large shares of the vote in two other eastern states, Saxony and Brandenburg, in elections in September.
The initiators of the current proposal to ban the AfD expect that it will be put to the vote in the Bundestag in December or January. The group includes politicians from the CDU, SPD, Greens and Left parties. Reaching a majority of the 736 lawmakers will take a lot of convincing.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) is among the many who are skeptical about whether it is smart to ban the AfD, which is represented in 14 of Germany’s 16 state parliaments, the European Parliament as well as the Bundestag, because simply banning the AfD won’t change its voters’ convictions.
That view is shared by the President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Josef Schuster. Before the Brandenburg election on September 22, he told the Tagesspiegel daily: “The people who vote for the AfD today will not simply disappear — and we cannot ignore them.” He said he believed a ban was not the way to dissuade AfD voters from their ideology.
On the Move to Ban AfD
Key Comments
- @MalHay: They can see what’s happening in the US & their loss of control is frightening them to death!
- @Styx666Official: Let’s defend freedom by undermining freedom seems to be a common German position.
- @UnusualIrony: Remember when the Nazis banned the SPD in 1933.
- @BlueRunner68: The Germans are doing what they did in the 1930s & again they’ll dress it up as ‘National Socialism’. I thought we’re all supposed to be worried about the mythical ‘Far Right’ these days. Looks like it’s the liberals we need to watch our back for.
- @tesssummers98: This is the only way the Left gain power – by stealing it.
- @goddeketal: BREAKING: Almost all German parties are moving to ban the right-wing @AfD accusing it of violating human dignity and the liberal democratic basic order. Fun fact: the AfD was the only party to oppose Covid measures, while the others knowingly terrorized the general public.
- @SeibtNaomi: Look who’s the real THREAT TO OUR DEMOCRACY! Now the SPD is scared: What if this helps the AfD win more votes?
Key Observations
- It is not the Leftist SPD party most seeking to get rid of AfD. Rather it’s the center right CDU/CSU that is leading the way.
- Those seeking to ban AfD have the 5 percent threshold to bring it up for a vote.
- The 5 percent threshold has been met. But will a majority of 733 members go along? You can count out 77 members of AfD. SPD has 207 seats. FDP has 91 seats.
- AfD, SPD, and FDP have the votes to block this. But even if it passes, it would still have to clear the German Constitutional Court.
My Guess
The move to ban AfD will either fail in the Bundestag or fail in the Constitutional Court.
If so, the move will backfire making AfD stronger.
Federal Elections
Following the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s governing coalition, the next election has been scheduled for Feb. 23, about seven month’s early.
The only coalition that makes any sense is CDU/CSU plus AfD. Add in FDP if you like. Those groups have the most in common.
But all the main parties ruled out cooperating with AfD. Thus, regardless of who wins the next election, there is no coalition that can reach 50 percent that makes any sense.
The more you forcibly try to exclude someone from governing, the more likely they will. That is the message from the US that Germany fails to heed.
Finally, CDU/CSU is the main opposition party in Germany now. It is likely to be AfD after the next election. At a minimum, this will increase AfD’s speaking time in parliament.
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A Grand Coalition between CDU/CSU and SPD makes no sense.
Nothing makes any sense on ideology except the one thing CDU rules out. And it’s CDU, not the Left, that is leading the charge on AfD.
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