German lawyers: Ban on far-right AfD 'likely successful'
Key takeaways
- A new report by legal experts has found that efforts to ban Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (Af D) could be successful — but there would be political dangers to such a move.
- https://p.dw.com/p/5G8Dp'Af D ban now!' is the slogan with which pro-democracy protesters have taken to the streets Image: Liesa Johannssen/REUTERSAdvertisement.
- However, any attempt to ban the party is likely to be politically explosive, not least because the AfD is currently the most popular political party in Germany, with up to 29% vote share nationwide in some polls.
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A new report by legal experts has found that efforts to ban Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (Af D) could be successful — but there would be political dangers to such a move.
https://p.dw.com/p/5G8Dp'Af D ban now!' is the slogan with which pro-democracy protesters have taken to the streets Image: Liesa Johannssen/REUTERSAdvertisement. The debate over banning Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (Af D) gained new impetus this week when the Society for Civil Rights (GFF) presented a legal assessment which concluded that the party was "demonstrably unconstitutional" and that an attempt to ban it could be successful.
The GFF was originally founded by a Green Party politician, who still serves as its Secretary General, but the board is made up of lawyers and law professors.The NGO's team of legal experts and researchers said they spent a year combing through 77,000 parliamentary documents, 55,000 press releases and 2.9 million social media posts to "examine the AfD according to academic standards." The researchers claimed that the report represented "the first comprehensive assessment on the unconstitutionality of the AfD" that would "significantly improve the basis for a discussion on a ban."