Bit by bit, the brightly lit dining hall of a countryside hotel near Potsdam fills with people. There are about two dozen of them, a mix of AfD members, followers of the Identitarian movement and members of nationalist student fraternities (Burschenschaft). People from the middle classes – doctors, lawyers, politicians and entrepreneurs – are also […]
Which is distinctly different, from the statementsade bei CDU/CDU, FDP and FW.
I disagree with this argument though. Nobody that feels aligned with the positions of the AfD or is fenerally against democracy will not vote them necause they might be illegal. Instead i often see and hear the argument their positions are legitimate as theyd otherwise be forbidden.
They simply do not derive their voting potential from people who care for rational consideration. The AfD works by emotionalizing and deceiving.
So it wont get much worse if the court case should fail. Also it is not something that was empirically observeable with other failed cases of forbidding parties in Germany.
On the other hand it might very well be too late after this years elections as the AfD could take over state governments, have enough power in many muncipal governments and in the Bundesrat (federal council) to block everything from moving forward. They do not lose politically from things not working. Instead they win even more and can radicalize even more. Also if they take power over state polices, prosecutors and the interior intelligence, it will be impossible to collect more evidence on their fascist and anticonstitutional activities.
What we see now is similiar to the appeasement we saw in the 30s. It is weak minded politicians reluctant to take action. But this doesnt work with fascists. There is never enough for them. They will always become more radical, more violent and more powerhungry.
Nah it doesn’t work that way, they’d need a majority both in the council and parliament and be in government to block things as any of the three can initiate proceedings on their own. Municipalities don’t get a say at all.
I meant they can block the passing of laws. They can kill civil society actors by denying funds on the muncipal level, like organizations against hate crime or artists, museums and other institutions that are critical of fascist politics. They can stack muncipal administrations, police, and state executive branches with their own people.
If they gain power in the states, they can block some federal legislation, fuck up state legislation and of course they will always blame it on the federal politics.
If they gain power in the muncipalities, they can effectively block the implementation of federal and state legislation and create fascist control on the local level.
Also as education is handled on state level, they can rearrange the teaching of history, ethics, religion and other subjects, to follow their ideology.
Even if a banning procedure is initiated then, it is much more difficult to get rid of them and repair the damage they have done by then, than if the government would act now.