The Greens are calling for an urgent ban on the AfD party
The Green Party called for the establishment of a joint working group between the federal government and state governments to gather evidence in preparation for launching procedures to ban the AfD party. Both the deputy leader of the Green parliamentary group in the Bundestag, Konstantin von Notz, and the director of parliamentary affairs, Irene Mihalich, confirmed that the time has come for joint action to accelerate the steps for the ban. They added that "it is unacceptable to see a far-right party trying to erode democracy and divide society while benefiting from state funding."
He pointed out that the banning process must be based on solid legal foundations and with great precision, given the high constitutional obstacles facing such a measure.
On his part, the legal politician of the Green Party, Till Steffen, stated that the formation of a working group from the federal government and the states will contribute to assessing the situation and developing a joint action plan, emphasizing that the report of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution is a key element in this step. The office classified the AfD party in May as a "confirmed right-wing extremist endeavor," prompting the party to challenge this classification before the administrative court in Cologne, which temporarily suspended the implementation of the classification and kept the AfD under the category of "suspected case."
While the position of the federal government, composed of the coalition between the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Social Democratic Party (SPD), remains divided. The head of the Social Democratic Party and Minister of Finance Lars Klingbeil expressed openness to the idea of a ban, while Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt from the CSU expressed his doubts, considering that the constitutional protection report is insufficient as a basis to initiate proceedings.
While the government, the federal parliament, or the state council can submit a ban request to the Federal Constitutional Court, parliamentary circles show broad support for the idea. According to the "Frankfurter Allgemeine" newspaper, 124 out of 176 surveyed deputies supported the ban on AfD, while 13 deputies expressed their willingness to do so under certain conditions. The majority, however, did not express a clear opinion.
The strongest support for the ban measures comes from the SPD, the Greens, and the Left Party. The Christian Union, however, has most of its members still opposing the idea. But Stephen Beilger, the parliamentary director of the CDU faction, did not rule out a change in this position in the future, saying: "We see that the AfD party is becoming more radical, and I do not completely rule out that our position may change in the future."