The German government’s harassment of the nationalist AfD party looks set to intensify as the Bundestag decides on whether to strip leading party figure Björn Höcke of his right to vote and stand in elections.
Höcke is an elected MP and the leader of the Thuringia branch of the AfD. The calls to strip him of his fundamental civil rights come in response to a left-wing petition that reached over 930,000 signatures, thus meriting an official response from the parliament.
The petition was launched by the cash-rich leftist NGO ‘Campact’ and calls for stringent post-war constitutional measures to be used against Höcke due to the alleged threat he poses to the “free democratic basic order” of the Bundesrepublik.
The so-called Article 18 measures were almost used by authorities during the hamfisted attempt to ban the ultranationalist NPD party in 2003. They ostensibly aim to limit the activities of groups or individuals promoting ideologies contrary to liberal democratic principles.
The AfD has been cementing its rise to national prominence recently with a strong visible presence in ongoing farmers protests in recent weeks. Responding to The European Conservative, a spokesperson for the AfD in Thuringia said Höcke was unavailable to comment on the petition.
There is extra political pressure on Höcke as he is in a strong position to become head of the Thuringia state government.
Regarded as a leading ideological figure in the AfD, Höcke has been the subject of intense legal lawfare which he has claimed is politically motivated as German authorities continue to weigh up the possibility of an outright ban on the insurgent populist party.
In December, the interior minister of Thuringia broached the possibility of changing the state’s constitution to stop the AfD from becoming the region’s largest political force.
Founded in 2013 as a free market party in response to the eurozone crisis, the AfD has become the leading electoral opponent to the asylum and pro-NATO foreign policies of successive progressive German governments.
Both Höcke and the AfD shrugged off a recent media hit piece against the party last week alleging contact between party top brass and Neo-Nazis as polls show the party riding high at 23% just behind the conservative CDU.
