A German political party, the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), has called for the creation of a working group comprising the federal government and the states to assess the prospects of a ban on the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. This move is reminiscent of a similar working group established in 2012 to evaluate the possibility of banning the National Democratic Party (NPD).
The SPD’s decision to support the creation of such a working group is in line with a previous demand made by the party’s parliamentary faction. The Greens, another German political party, had also called for the establishment of a similar working group to examine the AfD’s extremist tendencies.
However, the Federal Minister of the Interior, Alexander Dobrindt, of the Christian Social Union (CSU), is not in favor of the idea at this time. As long as the judicial review of the AfD’s status is not complete, the party will be treated as a suspected extremist case in the federal government, according to a ministry spokesperson.
If the court confirms the AfD’s classification as a securely right-wing extremist party, Dobrindt has agreed with the states to establish a working group to assess the impact of a higher classification on AfD members, such as those employed in the public sector and to discuss weapons-related issues. Nevertheless, the working group will not focus on the evaluation of a potential AfD ban, according to sources.