As of: January 23, 2024, 9:00 a.m
By: Jens Kiffmeier
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Dispute over party financing: The NPD ruling by constitutional judge Doris König could have consequences for Alice Weidel's AfD.
© Uwe Anspach/Kay Nietfeld/dpa/Montage
Money tap turned off: The AfD could be threatened with exclusion from party financing – this is what the traffic light is speculating on.
A court ruling should bring clarity.
Karlsruhe - Groundbreaking judgment: The Federal Constitutional Court is to decide on the exclusion of the right-wing extremist NPD from party financing.
The judge's ruling is eagerly awaited because it could serve as a blueprint for other parties.
Depending on the outcome of the judgment, the SPD and the Greens see this as a possible lever to deny state subsidies to the right-wing populist AfD.
But are the other parties playing along?
Canceling party funding: Federal Constitutional Court announces ruling on the NPD
The decision of the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe could form the basis for steps against the AfD, said Johannes Fechner, the parliamentary director of the SPD parliamentary group, to the
Handelsblatt
.
The procedure for exclusion from party financing anchored in the Basic Law is “an important element of the defensive state to significantly reduce state resources for anti-constitutional parties”.
After the verdict, we will know more about the specific hurdles.
“This can then also affect other parties,” he added.
After the NPD ban process failed in 2017, the legislature created the possibility of a funding freeze.
In 2019, the Bundestag, Bundesrat and federal government jointly submitted a proposal to exclude the NPD from party financing.
Now the Federal Constitutional Court is due to decide on Tuesday (January 23) whether this is actually possible.
Instead of a ban: the SPD, Greens and CSU see a possible blueprint for the AfD
To what extent the ruling could actually have an impact on the AfD remains to be seen.
In recent days, calls for a ban on the Alternative for Germany have become louder again after party officials took part in secret meetings with right-wing radicals, triggering mass protests in Germany.
The AfD chairwoman Alice Weidel downplayed the incident, but the ban debate was immediately back on track.
Because some state associations have been under observation by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution for a long time.
However, the hurdles for banning a party are quite high, so that large parts of politics fear the initiation of proceedings - especially given the failed NPD ban proceedings.
However, the cancellation of state subsidies could be a first step for many other parties.
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In addition to the SPD, the Greens and the CSU also showed sympathy for the idea.
Green Party parliamentary group leader Irene Mihalic warned at the same time that the step had to be “carefully considered”.
Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU), on the other hand, had already said last week that the expected NPD ruling could be a "blueprint" for the AfD debate.
However, it is unclear whether the sister party will play along.
CDU parliamentary group leader Thorsten Frei warned against underestimating the effort of such a procedure.
In the end, there is a risk that the test will come to a different conclusion and that the AfD will ultimately be strengthened rather than weakened.