German SPD Calls for Review of Potential AfD Ban Amid Polling Gains

By Staff, Agencies

Germany’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) has called for a formal review of whether legal grounds exist to seek a ban on the Alternative for Germany (AfD), as the right-wing party gains support nationally following major victories in recent regional elections.

The push follows AfD victories in Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania earlier this month, where the party secured 43.8% and 38.2% of the vote, respectively.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) suffered significant losses, including falling below the 5% threshold in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

On Tuesday, SPD parliamentary leaders from the Bundestag, Germany’s state legislatures and the European Parliament concluded a two-day summit in Bremen by describing the AfD as a “right-wing extremist party.” They accused the party of threatening democracy “from within” and “normalizing racism.”

The AfD rejected the accusations. Its parliamentary leader in Hamburg, Dirk Nockemann, described efforts to establish a working group on a potential ban as an “attack on democracy and the will of the voters” and called the initiative “desperate.”

The SPD is calling for federal and state governments to establish a joint working group by the end of the year to examine whether sufficient legal grounds exist to pursue a ban. The party described launching the review as “a legal necessity” and a “democratic duty.”

At the federal level, Germany’s domestic intelligence agency currently classifies the AfD as a suspected right-wing extremist organization.

A Cologne court blocked an attempt in February to upgrade the party to confirmed right-wing extremist status pending the outcome of the main proceedings, while several AfD state branches have the stronger classification.

Chancellor Merz has expressed skepticism about pursuing a ban, saying earlier this month that the legal hurdle was “very high” and arguing that outlawing the AfD would not resolve the problems its voters believe they face.

Under German law, only the Federal Constitutional Court can ban a political party, and a ban requires evidence that the party actively seeks to undermine the democratic order and has the potential to achieve that objective.

The debate comes as the AfD has opened a record polling lead over the CDU/CSU bloc. An INSA survey put the AfD at 29.5%, compared with 19% for CDU/CSU and 14.5% for the SPD, while the two governing parties together stood at 33.5%.

AfD co-leader Alice Weidel criticized the CDU’s refusal to cooperate with the party, saying the policy was “destroying Germany.”