The federal government’s former Eastern Commissioner, Marco Wanderwitz, continues to push for a ban on the AfD and gives it a good chance. The failed NPD ban proceedings at the Federal Constitutional Court should not be taken as a benchmark, said the Saxon CDU politician to the German Press Agency.
“You have to look at the AfD as it is today. The question is: Are they radical right-wing and are they aggressively fighting the free-democratic basic order? I say: The AfD is now what the NPD was. It can be more right-wing radical “Not. But the AfD is neither permeated by undercover agents nor is it insignificant. In my opinion, an AfD ban would have excellent chances.” Wanderwitz is a lawyer and member of the Bundestag.
Three regional associations “secure right-wing extremism”
He pointed out that three state associations – in Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia – have now been classified by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution as definitely right-wing extremist. “I also assume that the upgrade of the entire party as a right-wing extremist is a matter of time,” said Wanderwitz.
Politics has to make a decision
The political parties are now obliged to lead the debate and reach a decision. In order to implement a ban on driving in Karlsruhe, it must be requested by either the Bundestag, Bundesrat or the federal government. He was therefore pleased that the topic had recently come back into focus, said Wanderwitz.
Regarding his successor Carsten Schneider’s statement that a ban procedure would only lead to greater solidarity with the AfD and that the party should rather be given content, Wanderwitz said: “If we were in a situation where we didn’t have major international crises, where we If we didn’t have a federal government with poor craftsmanship and where we had relative political happiness, then I could understand that. But he stands in a burning house and says: We’ll continue to talk. I think that’s fatal. Time works for the AfD . In my view, this is also an attempt to avoid this social conflict.”
It is clear to him that his position in the CDU puts him in the minority. “That’s still a minority opinion. I’m working to ensure that it becomes the majority opinion in my party and in politics as a whole because I definitely think it’s urgently necessary. And thank God I’m not alone.”
Get AfD voters out of the bubble
In his view, a ban on the AfD would provide a breathing space. “It remains difficult. I think we will only reach some of the AfD voters who are protest voters again if we reset the AfD. The vast majority of people who are currently voting for the AfD are in a bubble from which we cannot get them out to get more out of it, and this bubble has to burst first.” Only then can one achieve more with political education, for example.
