Opinion
Right-wing extremism
There is no place for a Nazi party in Germany
The Thuringian AfD leader Björn Höcke
© Jan Huebner / Imago Images
AfD members met with organized right-wing extremists in a Potsdam villa to plan mass deportations of people of non-German origin. It is high time to ban the party.
This opinion piece is part of a pro/con debate on the discussion surrounding the secret meeting between AfD politicians and right-wing extremists. The question: Should the AfD be banned or not? You can find the contra part to this pro piece with this link.
Anyone who believed that the AfD would somehow fit into the parliamentary constitutional state must now recognize the truth: This party is an existential threat to our democracy – and should therefore be banned.
Apparently right up to the top of the party, their representatives are fantasizing about a “remigration” of people of non-German origin. If put into action, this would mean the forcible expulsion of millions of people from Germany – crimes that would not be possible in our constitutional state. The AfD is pursuing goals that cannot be achieved without overthrowing the democratic order. It could be the “smoking gun” for a ban on the AfD, which the research network “Correctiv” has now uncovered.
The size of the AfD is not an argument against banning it – on the contrary
A party whose leaders conspire with organized right-wing extremists to concoct deportation plans for the period after a coup (!) has no right to exist in the Federal Republic. It is the founding promise of this state to never allow racist, violent people near power again. But this is exactly the scenario that threatens after the state elections in Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg. The size and social anchoring of the AfD is not an argument against banning it, but rather for it.
In 2017, the Federal Constitutional Court rejected a ban on the NPD, arguing that the neo-Nazi party was simply too small and insignificant to achieve its anti-constitutional goals. Given the logic of this ruling, it seems almost imperative to ban the AfD – before it is too late. We don’t know whether Höcke, Weidel and company would actually be able to abolish the democratic order. The fact that they are willing to do this can no longer be denied. And waiting until the catastrophe occurs is not an option given German history.
The Basic Law explicitly provides for the possibility of banning parties
Yes, AfD supporters would rage about a ban. Shall they. After all, they have no right to demonstrate and express their opinions. But anyone who despises democracy and wants to abolish it has no right to be represented in its institutions. And no right-wing extremist group, organization or movement is as dangerous as a party that has state power at its disposal, infiltrates the apparatus and places ideologically like-minded people in crucial positions. The right-wing extremists know this very well.
A ban on the AfD would be a difficult and lengthy process with an open outcome. Perhaps the evidence is still too thin for the constitutional protection officers and constitutional lawyers. But the fear of the right-wing extremists gaining strength should not be an argument for not fighting their most important organization using the means of the rule of law. The Basic Law explicitly provides for the possibility of banning parties. And anyone who believes in the institutions of this state should have no problem if a court ultimately decides on the future of the AfD.