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German politicians debate ban for far-right AfD after divisive vote

 


German politicians debate ban for far-right AfD after divisive vote

DPA

Thu, January 30, 2025 at 8:14 PM GMT+12 min read

https://www.yahoo.com/news/german-politicians-debate-ban-far-191417855.html

 

German members of parliament held an emotional debate about whether to ban the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) on Thursday, after it helped to pass a controversial motion in parliament the previous day demanding hard-line migration reforms.

 

The centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU) on Thursday relied on the AfD to narrowly pass the motion in Germany's Bundestag, or lower house of parliament, causing an outcry just weeks before the country's parliamentary election on February 23.

 

It was the first time that a party has depended on the AfD to form a majority for a vote in the lower house.

 

The vote related to a non-binding five-point plan for a tougher migration policy, which has become a hot-button issue in the German election campaign after a string of attacks attributed to suspects with migrant backgrounds.

 

A cross-party initiative of 120 parliamentarians is asking the Bundestag to apply to Germany's Constitutional Court to ban the AfD.

 

But Thursday's debate on the matter revealed differences of opinion, even across party lines.

 

CDU member Marco Wanderwitz, who leads the initiative, said Germany could no longer tolerate the AfD "without suffering irreparable long-term damage to its very fabric."

 

However, his party colleague Philipp Amthor warned that if the initiative fails, the AfD could "affix a democratic seal of quality to itself that it does not deserve."

 

Meanwhile, Konstantin Kuhle of the Free Democrats said such a move could intensify the sense of alienation that many feel from the institutions of liberal democracy.

 

Another proposal, supported by numerous members of parliament from the Green Party, instead calls for an expert assessment to be conducted to determine whether the AfD is unconstitutional.

 

Green parliamentarian Renate Künast said that in order to ban a party, it must be deemed unconstitutional, not just extremist.

 

The AfD is currently under investigation by Germany's domestic intelligence service as a suspected extremist group.

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