German chancellor Friedrich Merz says he is critical of proposals to ban the largest opposition party, the right-wing populist Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) because “it smells too much” like a desperate attempt to “eliminate the political rivals.”
“I’ve always been very sceptical about ban proceedings against political parties,” the leader of the centre-right CDU party said in an interview. He added that for such action to be taken, the state has to provide evidence that the party in question is “aggressively and combatively” trying to topple the free democratic basic order.
The country’s domestic intelligence agency, the BfV, recently designated the AfD as a “right-wing extremist” organisation, and such a classification could pave the way for mainstream parties to launch a ban procedure against the party—politicians on the left as well as the centre-right of the political spectrum have called for the banning of the party.
Efforts to stigmatise and potentially ban the AfD are vindictive actions taken by the ruling elites who have no other means to counter the right-wing party.
The AfD’s popularity has grown to record heights—in some opinion polls it is the most popular party with a quarter of the population supporting it. The party has consistently called out the current and previous governments for their failures in managing the migration, the economic, and the energy crises.
The BfV—which is under the jurisdiction of the interior ministry—compiled a 1,100-page report on the AfD to justify its classification of the party as “right wing extremist” but the report is nothing more than an extensive compilation of public statements, social media posts, policy papers, and speeches by party representatives.
As law experts pointed out: criticism of migration policy or linking criminal phenomena to immigration does not in itself constitute proof of unconstitutionality.
Without Merz and his CDU party, an initiative to launch a ban procedure against the AfD would probably fail in the parliament, but the chancellor is known for flip-flopping and backtracking on his promises.
