Whole AfD suspected case: A verdict and its possible consequences

The Office for the Protection of the Constitution may classify the entire AfD as a suspected right-wing extremist. The party is examining whether to appeal against this judgment – because the consequences could be serious.

“The court’s verdict surprised us” – with this statement, AfD federal spokesman Tino Chrupalla is largely alone in political Berlin. And yet the judgment of the Cologne court is a turning point.

The fact that, for the first time, a party represented in the Bundestag could be observed as a whole by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, is not only a relevant process, but also a security policy process, stresses Green Party leader Konstantin von Notz. “And of course it raises questions, also for the German Bundestag itself, for example when it comes to secret service controls.”

Because the AfD is a member of the parliamentary control committee of the Bundestag, which, among other things, is supposed to control the work of the protection of the constitution. However, this cannot remain the case, says the chairman of the committee, Roderich Kiesewetter. “Of course, if this judgment is confirmed in the last instance, it is not possible for a party that is classified as a suspected case to be a member of the control committee,” said the CDU politician.

Can AfD members remain civil servants?

But the Cologne judgment could not only have far-reaching consequences for work in the Bundestag – but also for certain members of the AfD: civil servants, employees in the public sector.

After all, they all took an oath to uphold the constitution, emphasizes Thomas Haldenwang, President of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution joint morning magazine from ARD and ZDF:

AfD apparently fears exit wave

The fact that such examinations actually have consequences for civil servants is apparently not considered very likely by the AfD federal executive board. In several circulars before and after the Cologne judgement, which dem ARD Capital Studio are available, one tries to reassure: officials and employees of the public service in the AfD, who demonstrably stand up for the free-democratic basic order, have to fear neither disciplinary measures nor a reduction of their pension entitlements, it is said there – probably also to avoid a wave of exits from the prevent party. Apparently, after the verdict in the evening, numerous AfD members reported to the board.

From a political point of view, the decision for the AfD also comes at the wrong time – shortly before several state elections. Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann from the FDP has already spoken of a signal to the citizens “to think very carefully about whether you can give a vote to such a party, which is just a suspected case of having at least a divided relationship with our constitutional state. “