A group of over 1,000 left-wing lawyers in Germany have demanded the government ban the anti-mass migration Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party as it has surged to become the most popular in the country.
The self-described leftist Republican Lawyers’ Association issued a public appeal to the German government and lawmakers in the Bundestag to launch proceedings to ban the AfD, which it argues “contradicts the central fundamental values” of the country and its constitution, Die Welt reported.
Chairwoman Angela Furmaniak said that banning the leading opposition party would be necessary for the sake of “the human dignity of all people.”
The petition, which was signed by 1,051 legal professionals, notes that the “Basic Law” constitution provides the mechanism to ban political parties if a case is brought before the Federal Constitutional Court.
Such a case can be initiated by the federal government, the Bundestag parliament, or the Bundesrat senate, who would have to successfully argue that the party in question “not only takes an anti-constitutional attitude but aims to act on that attitude in a militant and aggressive way.” The party would need to be demonstrated to have acted to “deliberately undermine the functioning of Germany’s free democratic basic order.”
Furmaniak said that “politicians must no longer hide behind specious arguments, but must act before it is too late.”
At present, the country’s top left-wing party, the Social Democrats (SPD), is in favour of a ban on the AfD. However, despite being in a governing coaltion with the SPD, the centrist Christian Democrats (CDU) have so far refused to back a ban.
Hellbound and Down 