AfD ban: a viable approach?
Following the scandal over plans for mass expulsions from Germany, the debate about banning the AfD has gained new momentum. On the weekend hundreds of thousands of people across Germany demonstrated against right-wing extremism, and in some cases explicitly against the AfD. According to public surveys, between 10 percent (in Saarland) and 34 percent (in Saxony) of the population would vote for the AfD if elections were held now. Europe's press is nonethless sceptical about a ban on the party.
Dangerous and counterproductive
Democrats should not fight with such means, criticises the Aargauer Zeitung:
“Neither a ban on the AfD nor the withdrawal of [the far-right Thuringian AfD leader Björn] Höcke’s basic rights are likely at present: the legislator has set high hurdles for the application of both instruments. Nevertheless, the swelling chorus of those in favour of a ban is cause for concern. Behind their demands is the belief that an authoritarian threat can be combated with authoritarian methods. The reason why this is is so dangerous is that it lowers a threshold: what Höcke's opponents are now demanding should happen to him, the AfD man could, conversely, seek to do to the left and liberals if he ever came to power.”
Germany must be strict
De Volkskrant compares the rise of the AfD in Germany with developments in other European countries:
“In some respects, Germany has become a normal European country. The fragmentation of the electorate is making it increasingly difficult to form stable and effective governments, including in Germany. As in all other European countries, part of the electorate has shifted to the radical far right. But given its history, the advance of the far right in Germany is a more delicate issue than in other countries. The AfD is a dangerous party in which some politicians flirt with neo-Nazism. ... A general ban goes too far for the time being, but Germany must certainly take strict action against AfD politicians who do not respect the Basic Law.”
No need for emergency measures
Jyllands-Posten is against a ban:
“The idea of banning the AfD is neither realistic nor sensible. ... You have to go back almost 70 years to find the last time a German party was banned, and since then Germany has survived many upheavals - think of the left-wing extremist wave of terror in the 1970s - without resorting to such measures. We are far from a complete undermining of the fundamental political stability of Germany, which despite economic and social challenges is prosperous, enlightened and resourceful enough to maintain order in its day-to-day politics without having to resort to the courts as an emergency brake.”