A new report by legal experts has found that efforts to ban Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) could be successful — but there would be political dangers to such a move.
Banning political parties in democracy has always been a very sketchy and mine-fielded thing. Everyone is obviously shitting bricks up there making these decisions. What if half the population decides you’re taking away their democracy, leading to brutal protests?
I don’t fully understand what you meant by allies in east questioning their ties if Germany does that. You mean Russia? No one outside Germany in the east really supports AfD since they’re anti-EU and very mixed about support towards Russia (there should be none, zero)
EDIT: I’m from East Europe. My country leans left and was amongst the most progressive in the world when it comes to gender equality and rights.
Good call about not banning it because it’s too popular. Just ignore it and wait for people to come to their senses on logic.
It worked to stop Trump in the US.
/s
Last time the reason was they are too small to ban. Now they are too large?
Banning political parties in democracy has always been a very sketchy and mine-fielded thing. Everyone is obviously shitting bricks up there making these decisions. What if half the population decides you’re taking away their democracy, leading to brutal protests?
Yeah, no that won’t happen. But it will lead to other European countries, particularly the East, to question their ties to Germany if they do that.
I don’t fully understand what you meant by allies in east questioning their ties if Germany does that. You mean Russia? No one outside Germany in the east really supports AfD since they’re anti-EU and very mixed about support towards Russia (there should be none, zero)
EDIT: I’m from East Europe. My country leans left and was amongst the most progressive in the world when it comes to gender equality and rights.
Banning a small party would be politically damaging, banning a big party would be institutionally damaging.
You know what else is institutionally damaging?
Right-wing populist rule.
I guess the Nazis have arrived to downvote this fact.
This has been Germany’s strategy wrt far-right populism for decades.
It worked really well to stop them.
/s
It actually kind of works, if you compare how Germany is doing with the rest of the “western” world, it’s not worse than most.