The head of the SPD and designated vice chancellor, Lars Klingbeil, has announced that the new federal government will review the possibility of banning the AfD, after the Verfassungsschutz (the German intelligence agency) classified the party as “safely right-extremist” in a 1,100-page report. Klingbeil said in an interview with Bild, “It must not remain without consequences, what the Verfassungsschutz has written down for us in black and white. We, as those who make political decisions, now have the responsibility to protect our democracy from the enemies of democracy. And there we must make decisions very quickly in the new government, in the coalition.” He added, “I expect from everyone that this is taken very seriously, what is shown in this report. This must now be evaluated very quickly.” The SPD leader did not want to specify which measures the future government should take regarding the classification. However, he said, “Somewhere down the line, there will be the clear instruction from the independent authorities to say, now you have to act, dear politics. And we will have to evaluate whether this report provides such an indication.” The classification as “safely right-extremist” is the highest category in which the Verfassungsschutz can classify potential cases of subversive activities. The designated federal interior minister, Alexander Dobrindt (CSU), whose ministry will be subordinated to the Federal Oberbehörde in the future, made no statements on possible steps. “I assume that there will be a judicial review of the classification” he said in an interview with Bild. “Regardless of this, the report inevitably leads to further monitoring of the AfD.” Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) has informed him “today about the publication of the report.” Parties that “pursue their goals or the behavior of their supporters aimed at impairing or eliminating the free democratic basic order or endangering the existence of the Federal Republic of Germany” are considered unconstitutional according to Article 21 of the Basic Law. The Federal Constitutional Court decides on the question of constitutional unconstitutionality. In a federal law, it is regulated that a ban can be proposed by the Bundestag, Bundesrat, or federal government.
SPD’s Klingbeil: Ban the AfD for Democracy’s Sake
