In no uncertain terms, SPD leader Lars Klingbeil is insisting on maintaining the "firewall" against the AfD and on concrete steps toward proceedings to ban the far-right party. "For me and my party, this is not negotiable," Klingbeil wrote in Die Zeit, referring to the "firewall" meant to rule out cooperation between democratic parties and the AfD. A ban on the AfD, he added, must also be "seriously examined."
The firewall is not a matter of political calculation but a consequence of the failure of the Weimar Republic, the vice chancellor wrote further in his guest article. "It is meant to prevent enemies of the constitution from gaining political power. It protects the dignity of every individual and, with it, our liberal democracy."
In the debate over an AfD ban, Klingbeil referred to a recently published legal opinion by the Gesellschaft für Freiheitsrechte (Society for Civil Rights), which concludes that the party is unconstitutional. "Independent scholars have thus demonstrated that the AfD is systematically working to destroy our democracy and our rule of law," Klingbeil wrote.
It must therefore now be concretely examined whether the conditions for ban proceedings before the Federal Constitutional Court are met, the SPD leader demanded. If that is the case, "then such ban proceedings are not merely an option but a democratic duty to protect our country."
Klingbeil issued an urgent warning about the consequences of a possible AfD election victory. "If this right-wing extremist ideology came to hold state power, no one would be safe anymore," he wrote.
Left Party deputy parliamentary group leader Clara Bünger then called on the SPD to stop talking and start acting. "The SPD sits in the federal government and has the ability to initiate very concrete steps," she told the Rheinische Post. Klingbeil, she said, could "launch a federal-state working group today to specify the steps."
"Frankly, we are shocked that the federal government still has not acted decisively despite the AfD's ongoing radicalization and its attacks on democracy," Bünger criticized. Still, she welcomed "the vice chancellor's realization that action must also be taken against the AfD."
A ban on the AfD could be "an important building block" for that, the Left Party politician said. In her view, too, the legal requirements for a ban are met. However, she said, ban proceedings alone would not "diminish the AfD." Anyone who wants to push the party back permanently must "show people that politics improves their lives and takes their interests seriously."
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