Members of several parties in the German parliament are set to introduce a motion to begin the process of banning the anti-mass migration Alternative for Germany (AfD), which is currently seeing success after success in regional elections. More than the 37 German lawmakers required to introduce the motion support it, including members of the ruling Social Democrats (SPD) and their Green coalition partners, the Left Party, and the notionally center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) formerly led by Angela Merkel.
The parliament cannot outright ban political parties by itself, so the motion calls on the German Constitutional Court to begin proceedings to ban the AfD. It also argues that the AfD should be cut off from all public party financing.
However, not all lawmakers support the motion. SPD politician Gesine Schwan warns the ban process could be “politically counterproductive” and actually increase public support for the AfD.
Sahra Wagenknecht, whose left-populist BSW party has also seen recent election success, called the move “the stupidest application of the year.” While economically left-wing, Wagenknecht shares some of the same concerns about mass migration as the AfD and is seen as socially conservative on many issues.
German politicians have been talking about banning the AfD for at least a year, with CDU lawmaker Marco Wanderwitz drafting legislation last October. Since then, the AfD has come second in state elections in Saxony and Brandenburg and finished first in Thuringia. Support among the German youth is surging for the party, with some polls showing it to be the most popular among young voters.