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.
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário