Afd: crisis in Berlin accelerates initiative to ban the ultra-right

The political crisis in Germany accelerates the parliamentary initiative to ban Alternative für Deutschland: 113 deputies have submitted a motion to the Bundestag president, Bärbel Bas (Spd), aiming to have the ultra-right formation, accused of neo-Nazi drifts due to its extremist positions, declared unconstitutional.

Supporters of the initiative come from the Greens, Spd, Linke, Cdu and Südschleswigsche Wählerverband (Ssw). They want the motion to be voted on by the House in the weeks remaining before its dissolution, following the government crisis opened by Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The text had been circulating for some time, promoted by a deputy of the Christian Democrats (Cdu), Marco Wanderwitz, and one of the Social Democrats (Spd), Carmen Wegge.

The Afd is second in the national polls (at 17%), behind only the Cdu (which exceeds 30%). It has its stronghold in the eastern Länder, where it breaks through 30% and has recently triumphed in local elections. However, it remains excluded from the control rooms due to the cordon sanitaire to which the other German parties adhere.

Wanderwitz had already emphasised this week that an acceleration is needed because of the upcoming early elections. "Our demand is now on the table in the Bundestag. We must submit this strong right-wing extremist party to the scrutiny of the Constitutional Court, as required by the Basic Law. Nothing less than our liberal democracy is at stake,' he said.

Once the motion is passed (a simple majority is needed), the Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe will be able to start proceedings on the party, which has already been put under observation by the domestic intelligence services, which have classified it as a suspected right-wing extremist group.