Germany is considering banning the Far-Right political outfit, Alternative für Deutschland (AfD). Thomas Haldenwang, the Chief of the Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz (the German intelligence agency with the mission to fight extremist adversaries of the Federal Constitution), recently told German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier that the AfD should be banned, as the influence of extremists in this party was growing rapidly. It may be noted that Berlin decided to label the AfD’s youth wing, the Young Alternative for Germany, as an extremist group earlier in 2023.

President Steinmeier held a meeting with the intelligence agency officials in the second week of August to discuss the current domestic political situation. During the meeting, he told the intelligence officers that it was the right time to teach those who hate Democracy, and everyone should be aware of this. Incidentally, the meeting took place at a palace in Weimar where the German Constitution was written after the Second World War. For his part, Haldenwang stated that the AfD was spreading hatred against the minority communities, including the Jews, in Germany.

Meanwhile, a recent opinion poll has revealed that nearly 21% of people in Germany want the Far-Right party to come to power in the near future. Joachim-Friedrich Martin Josef Merz, the Head of the Opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU), has warned that political problems cannot be tackled by banning a party. Experts, too, believe that the government would make a mistake, if it bans the AfD.

Talking to the Euronews, Una Ivona Titz, a journalist and researcher at the Amadeu Antonio Foundation (a group focused on extremism and the Far-Right ideology), has said that the proposed move would certainly “backfire massively because the AfD took it upon themselves to paint a different picture in the media”. She added: “Right now, they are garnering a lot of support on Telegram because they are rallying their supporters and they are painting themselves as a persecuted party within an unjust system which they are fighting from within.” Titz explained: “What we are seeing is that it has emboldened them and actually helped them bolster the image of AfD.”

Political columnist Bruno Waterfield is of the opinion that Defensive Democracy is a deeply Anti-Democratic idea. He has stated that elites should be allowed to determine which parties they would accept. Else, people shall misread both history and the current situation. He has explained: “It assumes that popular passions, unleashed by national electorates, lead to the rise of Totalitarianism or Aggressive State Nationalism unless they are subject to some kind of political restraint.“

According to Waterfield, the AfD is not a Fascist party at all. The growing unpopularity of the current Ruling Coalition has helped the party receive a huge public support. People back the AfD, as they are against the government’s policies on immigration and energy. Furthermore, the government’s commitment to the green agenda has so far been economically crippling. These factors have prompted people to accept the AfD, although the party has many faults. Berlin should understand the fact that imposing a ban on the AfD would mean banning the most important critics of the government.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das