Numerous members of Germany’s Christian Democrats (CDU) have been lobbying for a ban of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, but CDU’s leadership is calling for an end to such discussions. Now, against the expectations of many, a ban of the party may not be going forward, at least not anytime soon.
Currently, CDU General-Secretary Carsten Linnemann and Markus Söder, the head of the Christian Socialists (CSU), the sister party of the CDU, have both called on top officials at the federal and state level to stop discussions of an AfD ban.
This call comes as some in the party ranks keep pressing for a ban. Recently, Schleswig-Holstein’s head of government, Daniel Günther (CDU), requested Chancellor Friedrich Merz support a motion to ban the AfD in the Bundestag, despite the party now polling in first place in some polls and representing the second-largest party in the country.
Last month, the Office of the Protection of the Constitution designated the AfD “confirmed right-wing extremist,” in a 1,110-page report, which set the stage for a potential ban. However, the BfV has since withdrawn this designation due to a court appeal. In addition, Linnemann stated that he is waiting on an assessment from Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt of the CSU regarding the BfV report.
Linnemann said that “hopefully the debate will be over at some point,” saying that an end to the discussion “would do us good, these debates don’t help us at all.”
However, Linnemann appears to be keeping a door to ban open pending an assessment of the BfV report by the interior ministry, stating that an AfD ban would be “very much an executive decision.”
Söder against a ban
However, Söder, a powerful voice and the head of the CSU, seems to be closing the door on a ban, at least from his perspective. He said that a ban would “hardly be legally enforceable.” He also said that a ban would give the AfD “martyr status,” making it the wrong path forward.
Söder is now calling for a discussion of banning the AfD to end “at least within the CDU/CSU family.”
Without the support of the CDU and CSU, a ban of the party in the Bundestag is currently impossible. Dobrindt himself said that he had already ruled out such a motion.
In a recent interview, Merz also rejected the idea, stating that “it smells too much like the elimination of political rivals to me.”
He told Die Zeit that it would be unlikely to be proven that the AfD was working “aggressively and militantly” against the free democratic order.
None of this is settled, and a ban could rear its head once again, especially after the interior ministry is finished with its review. Nonetheless, a ban is looking more and more distant by the day.
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