Hessian Minister President Boris Rhein expresses skepticism towards potential AfD ban proceedings. In an interview with “Ippen-Media”, Rhein stated that at the end of the day, one must be “proportionately sure” of being able to successfully enforce such a ban in the Federal Constitutional Court. Otherwise, the damage would be immense. He added, “I see a ban proceeding against the AfD with skepticism.”
Rhein, who served as the Minister of Internal Affairs in Hesse, had firsthand experience with the previous NPD ban proceeding and described a ban proceeding as “a damn complex story.” He further emphasized, “Those who believe they can solve the problem by banning the AfD are mistaken. It is not only a complex matter, but also a very long road to ban a party. Therefore, one must approach this very cautiously. We can achieve more quickly by weakening the AfD with good politics.”
Additionally, Rhein noted that one cannot ban the voters of the AfD but rather win them back with a strong and courageous middle politics. He said, “We must politically confront and fight against the functionaries of the AfD.” In response to the remark that this approach has not been successful in the past, Rhein commented, “That is true – and it is a failure of German politics.