The right-wing populist Alternative for Germany is gaining ground in the opinion polls. With every percentage point that the party labels as suspected right-wing extremist, concern grows among political competitors. At the same time, the debate about a ban is gaining momentum. However, former Federal President Joachim Gauck is very skeptical about such a ban.
“We can’t ban everything we don’t like. It is equally nonsensical to say that everyone who votes for the AfD is automatically a Nazi,” the former pastor emphasized to the “Augsburger Allgemeine” on Monday. “Some of these people want everything to go back to the way it was before – and preferably without foreigners. Unfortunately, these people do not ask who will harvest the strawberries and asparagus.”
“Elected in free elections”
Germany would be better without the AfD, Gauck said. But: ‘The AfD was elected through free elections, society has given it political dignity.’ The former federal president believes that “our democracy is stable enough to debate so intensively with a party that operates from national populist to nationalist that they lose in the disagreement.”
Ranks second in Germany
According to recent surveys, the AfD currently reaches 19 to 22 percent across Germany. This means second place behind the CDU/CSU. Next year there will be state elections in Brandenburg, Saxony and Thuringia. The AfD recently achieved values of more than 30 percent in surveys.
Speaking of Thuringia, the leader of the state party there, Björn Höcke, will soon have to appear in court for the alleged use of license plates of unconstitutional and terrorist organizations. Höcke is accused of using a banned slogan of the so-called Sturmabteilung (SA), the NSDAP’s paramilitary combat organization, in a speech in Merseburg (Saalekreis), Anhalt, on May 29, 2021.
Source: Krone
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