42 percent of Germans support the AfD ban process
“She was democratically elected. That doesn’t mean it’s a democratic party.”
The AfD has been on the rise for several months. A ban is being brought into play by political competition, including SPD federal chairwoman Saskia Esken. Political scientist Prof. Hajo Funke talks about this on WELT TV.
The AfD has been at a high mood for months. In a survey, two out of five Germans are now in favor of banning the party. CSU boss Markus Söder is skeptical about such a procedure and speaks of “extreme hurdles”.
Dhe question about an AfD ban procedure divides Germans: 42 percent would be in favor of initiating the procedure, 42 percent are against it, as the market and opinion research institute Ipsos announced on Thursday in Hamburg. There are clear differences between West and East Germany: While 45 percent of those surveyed in the West are in favor of a procedure and 40 percent are against it, in the East only 32 percent are in favor of an AfD ban procedure, 51 percent are against it.
According to the survey, support for an AfD ban procedure is greatest among the supporters of the Greens: 71 percent of them are in favor of a procedure and 19 percent are against it. This is followed by SPD supporters (64 percent for, 26 percent against) and left-wing supporters (63 percent for, 29 percent against).
Even within the CDU/CSU supporters, more than half of those surveyed are in favor of a ban (53 percent in favor, 38 percent against). Within the FDP supporters, 46 percent are for and 41 percent against proceedings. Among AfD supporters, three percent are in favor of banning the AfD, while 95 percent are against it.
Ipsos conducted the quota online survey of 2,000 eligible voters between the ages of 18 and 75 in Germany from January 5th to 7th, representatively weighted according to age, gender, education, region and voting behavior in the most recent federal election.
Söder sees “extreme constitutional hurdles”
CSU boss Markus Söder is skeptical about a ban procedure despite the recently announced meeting of right-wing circles with extremists and AfD officials. “I believe that the ban simply has extreme constitutional hurdles. And striving for such a ban will almost certainly lead to failure,” the Bavarian Prime Minister told Deutschlandfunk. This would give the AfD carte blanche and strengthen it to such an extent that it would “probably be almost impossible to stop in democratic elections.”
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At the meeting in a villa in Potsdam, the pacesetter of the right-wing extremist Identitarian movement, the Austrian Martin Sellner, presented concept ideas for “remigration” – i.e. the return of immigrants, as he confirmed to the German Press Agency. Söder condemned the “deportation plans of the worst kind” in the strongest possible terms: “As a precursor, this really reminds us of the darkest thing you can ever imagine and the most disgusting.”
According to Söder, the AfD must be fought politically. In addition to naming the problems, sensible concepts and solutions are also needed, especially in the area of migration. It would be feasible to significantly reduce the AfD, he said. “By the way, also before these state elections, when there are better policies in Germany.”
Experts understand the term “remigration” to mean the return of people who have fled or immigrated to their countries of origin. Sellner wrote to the dpa in an email that his proposal included “not only deportations, but also local help, dominant culture and pressure to assimilate.” He suggested a “model city” that “could be leased and organized as a special economic zone in North Africa.”