German minister calls for ban on far-right AfD to be considered
Germany's new justice minister came out in favour of considering legal action to ban the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in remarks to the national daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung released on Thursday.
Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig of the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) said the AfD had to be taken seriously as "a possible threat to our democracy." She added: "This necessarily includes looking into banning the party."
Calls for the AfD to be banned have grown louder after Germany's domestic intelligence agency upgraded its assessment of the party from "suspected" to "confirmed right-wing extremist" at the beginning of this month, a move that comes with more surveillance power over the party.
However, the intelligence agency has suspended the assessment pending the outcome of an application for an urgent injunction against the classification filed by the AfD.
Hubig told the conservative daily that a ban was the sharpest weapon that German democracy had at its disposal to defend itself against enemies and that it should not be used prematurely.
But if thorough examination revealed that the conditions were right it would be difficult to justify not making use of it, she added.
Hubig said that the new government, a coalition of Chancellor Friedrich Merz's conservatives and the SPD, would discuss the possibility of seeking a ban and come up with a joint response.
Merz has said he is "very sceptical" that a ban should be pursued.
Both houses of parliament should also discuss the issue, Hubig said, noting that the constitution allowed either of them to launch proceedings before the constitutional court, as well as the government.
Germany's constitutional court has in the past set a high bar for banning a party.
Holding anti-constitutional views is considered insufficient to justify such a move. Instead, the party in question has to pursue these views aggressively, and achieving its anti-constitutional aims has to be at least theoretically possible.
The AfD was placed second in the February elections on 20.8% of the vote behind the conservative bloc on 28.5% and ahead of the SPD in third place on 16.4%.
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They can say all they want that they are trained in de-escalation, but in reality, it's maybe 1-2 days of training a year and maybe some rapid last-minute refreshers as soon as they found out they were getting sent to LA. The bulk of their training and instincts are to destroy the enemy. This will not go well." "Former Army here — it's complete bullshit. Let law enforcement enforce the law, let the military do military operations. To be honest, they were waiting for any reason to do this because they want to 'send a message,' but the message that's sent isn't what they think it is. I feel sorry for those soldiers sleeping on the hard floor with no plan of provisions for water/food, not abroad in a war zone, but in downtown fucking LA." "Former Marine, from Los Angeles, from immigrant parents. Fuck this administration. I hope those troops remember their oath to the US Constitution and to the people of the nation. I'm so disappointed with this whole situation." —Tacos_and_Yut "I think following the orders of a 34-count felon who is responsible for attacking the Capitol of the USA is reprehensible. I sincerely regret my service to the USA and wish I could take it back. It will not happen again." "I don't support violent protests. I also don't support Marines being used to quell said protests. Marines are a tool you use to destroy an area or group of people, not to peacefully resolve it. The guard makes more sense here, but the best answer is just keeping it at the police level." "GWOT [Global War on Terrorism] veteran here. This shit is absolutely wack. The United States has used the National Guard MANY times throughout its history, albeit for civil unrest or not. The National Guard does an impeccable job at this, and to hear the National Guard is being utilized isn't too concerning." "The VERY large, stomach churning moment is the President giving the green light to utilize 2/7 out of Twentynine Palms. These are not 'peacekeepers.' Their motto is fucking literally 'First to Fight.' They have a long history of intense combat operations from WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, and GWOT. This is a highly decorated combat unit within the US military's young, war-fighting, men against the people the thought they were protecting is going to be a disastrous clusterfuck."—NSTalley "I support the National Guard being used to protect federal buildings and to quell riots and obstruction to the enforcement of federal law." "Served in the Navy from '09-'13. The bulk of these guys have never deployed, which is a badge of honor. Young, untested 18-22 year olds with guns seems like a really bad idea to me." "As a Veteran I am pissed that I spent 4 years defending this country only to have some idiots vote for and support a Christo-Fascist government and despite all evidence still believe this is going to be a 'good' thing." —MediocreDecking "Retired Navy here and also a former Marine. Sending an infantry battalion (2/7) to assist the LAPD and the National Guard is the wrong move. There are whole-ass battalions of Military Police who are specifically trained for this scenario. Why weren't they sent? Every active duty/veteran I know is against this." "It's a complicated issue. Most service members take their oath to defend the Constitution seriously, which includes the rights of Americans to protest. Using the military for domestic unrest should be an absolute last resort, not the go-to option. We're trained to engage enemies, not fellow citizens." "Marine here, many of the brothers and sisters I served with came from immigrant families and communities in LA or ones just like them. I'm sure there's a few Marines who are on board with this crap but many are really struggling with this, I can guarantee you." —skamatiks671 "Nobody likes the idea that this administration is attempting to politicize the military. It's awkward for us. The way the Secretary of Defense talks is vile, unprofessional, and embarrassing. Recruiting and retention will plummet." "It's an accident waiting to happen." —kozmo30 And finally, "Real take, most of them don't particularly care and just want to do their job and go home, regardless of the situation. Marines are people and lean slightly right — so you do have people who are giddy about 'enforcing order' — but nobody wants to be dressed up in full kit in LA summer heat." What do you think? Let us know in the comments.
