Green candidate Banaszak in favor of AfD ban

The candidate for the federal chairmanship of the Greens, Felix Banaszak, has spoken out in favor of an AfD ban. When asked by the new chair of the Green Youth, Jette Nietzard, whether he supports the cross-party motion to ban the AfD, he did not give a clear yes or no answer at the party's national youth congress in Leipzig. However, he made it clear that he shares the goal: "I want the AfD to be banned. Period."

According to his assessment, there is currently no prospect of the motion gaining a majority in the German Bundestag. "Now I can say, so that we can all pat ourselves on the back, I'll put my name to it - and I can well imagine that. That's why the answer is not no." However, achieving the goal becomes more likely the less it is charged with party politics and the more it is promoted that it is a question of survival for a defensible democracy.

Since Thursday, cross-party advocates of an AfD ban have been seeking official support in the Bundestag for their initiative. According to the office of Green MP Till Steffen, the motion already has significantly more than the 37 supporters required to be submitted to the Bundestag. The MPs want the Federal Constitutional Court to examine whether the AfD is unconstitutional. This is possible under Article 21 of the Basic Law.

In the proceedings, the AfD would have to prove that it is taking aggressive, militant action against the constitution. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution is monitoring the party as a suspected right-wing extremist. A motion could be passed by a majority in the Bundestag. It remains to be seen whether it will receive sufficient support.