SPD state chief doubts the success of an AfD ban procedure

Schleswig-Holstein's SPD state chairman Ulf Kampf has doubts about the success of a possible AfD ban procedure. “It's a bit problematic at the moment because you can interpret it as a reaction to the election success in Saxony-Anhalt,” said Kampfer to the German Press Agency. As an administrative and constitutional lawyer, he is “not yet convinced whether we can really be sure that such an application would be successful.” In any case, such a procedure takes several years. “I am in favor of continuing to examine whether we have sufficient prospects of success, but this is not something that can be shot from the hip now.”

The AfD received 43.8 percent of the vote in the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt on Sunday. “In the end, of course, you have to fight right-wing extremism politically, and you have to try to bring back those who are disappointed,” said Kampfer. Regardless of this, there is a reason why the Basic Law provides for the possibility of a ban. “And if the conditions are met, then that is a real option.”

Hamburg's mayor, Peter Tschentscher, expressed similar caution.

Wild advance

North Rhine-Westphalia's Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst is calling for a federal-state working group on the constitutional handling of the AfD and possible consequences. This review must be open-ended and should not automatically lead to a ban, the CDU politician told the German Press Agency. The AfD is being monitored nationwide by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution as a suspected case. Individual state associations - including Saxony-Anhalt - are classified as definitely right-wing extremist by the respective state Office for the Protection of the Constitution.

Only the Bundestag, the Bundesrat and the Federal Government can submit an application for a party ban to the Federal Constitutional Court. The decision then lies with the Federal Constitutional Court.