German AfD lawmaker says attempt to ban is political, out of fear
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If the Bundestag goes ahead with the proposal, the Federal Constitutional Court would have to decide whether to consider the AfD's potential ban.
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An AfD election poster for the European elections reading "our country first" is fixed on a pole in Frankfurt, Germany, Monday, May 13, 2024. (AP)
AfD member of parliament Eugene Schmidt told Sputnik that the attempt to outlaw the right-wing AfD party is an anti-democratic process that shows the fear of the German political elite, especially after its performance in the 2024 European Parliament elections.
Earlier this week, German politician Marco Wanderwitz declared that he had persuaded a sufficient number of German parliamentarians to file a move to outlaw the AfD due to purported affiliations with far-right extremists.
If the Bundestag goes ahead with the proposal, the Federal Constitutional Court would have to decide whether to consider the AfD's potential ban.
Schmidt said, "It is unknown whether this plan will succeed, but the attempt to ban a democratically elected party, which enjoys enormous support in Germany, demonstrates the anti-democratic attitude of the establishment. At the same time, it shows its desperation: apparently they cannot find any other way to fight the AfD other than to ban it".
He added that Wanderwitz of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has garnered support from The Greens to oust the AfD.
Read more: The Spectator: The rise of the AfD in Germany explained
On the German radar since 2021
With almost 14% of the vote, the incumbent Social Democratic Party of Germany, led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz, finished third in the most recent EU legislative elections. With 30% of the vote, the opposition CDU/CSU group won, with the AfD coming in second with 16%.
On June 12, the chairman of Germany's domestic intel agency announced that it would compile a fresh report on the AfD to investigate the party's extremist inclinations.
The chief of the domestic intelligence agency BfV, Thomas Haldenwang, divulged to local media that authorities were more concerned about the growing radicalization of right-wing organizations, describing to DPA a "renewed increase in the number of violent right-wing extremists in the country."
This month's EU elections saw significant gains for the far-right, as exit polls indicate Marine Le Pen's National Rally in France and Alternative for Germany leading the governing parties, potentially shifting the balance within the European Parliament at a critical juncture.
In recent years, the AfD has been entangled in a number of controversies, including a secret gathering of senior leaders to prepare mass deportation of immigrants, casting doubt on the party's adherence to democratic norms.
Since 2021, Germany's domestic intelligence service has been monitoring the AfD's youth wing and different affiliates.
