German Green Party’s Parliamentary Spokesman Criticizes Minister’s Stance on AfD’s Potential Ban
The German Green Party’s parliamentary spokesman, Marcel Emmerich, has sharply criticized the statements of Federal Minister of the Interior, Alexander Dobrindt, regarding a potential ban on the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
In an interview with the Handelsblatt, Emmerich emphasized that the classification of the AfD as “secured right-extremist” by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (Verfassungsschutz) is not a political opinion, but a legally grounded assessment by a federal authority. He warned Dobrindt not to relativize attacks on human dignity and not to dismiss a ban as an instrument of the democratic system.
Emmerich also accused the AfD of deliberately inciting hatred in society, stating that their rhetoric aims to drive millions of people out of the country. He further emphasized that all democrats should be alarmed by the party’s connections to authoritarian states and networks.
The Green Party’s spokesman also referred to Article 21 of the German Constitution, which states that parties aiming to abolish or undermine the free democratic basic order or threaten the existence of the Federal Republic of Germany are unconstitutional. The Federal Constitutional Court would ultimately decide on the party’s constitutionality. A ban on the AfD could be initiated by the Bundestag, the Bundesrat, or the federal government, as regulated by a federal law.