Parties

The risky NPD prohibition proceedings

The Federal constitutional court decides about the future of a party that is politically and financially. Marcel Fürstenau on the way to Karlsruhe, the could end up in a cul-de-SAC.

This section of the Saxon NPD poster is likely to please even the opponents of the party…

Germany in the 1990s: arson attacks on asylum seeker homes and foreigners inhabited houses. Xenophobia is everywhere. Rostock and Hoyerswerda, Solingen and Mölln are synonymous with pogroms and murder. It people are really dying in burning homes, beaten by right-wing extremists to death. Under the impression of this xenophobic excesses of the Federal government, the Bundestag and the Bundesrat apply to the Federal constitutional court in Karlsruhe to ban the national democratic party of Germany (NPD).

The NPD is in the opinion of the three constitutional organs of spiritual arsonist. A party that wants a democratic rule of law to undermine and destroy. And then there is this disgrace: the judge set the process in 2003, before it really gets going. The reason for this is The alleged unconstitutionality of the NPD is based on information from the so-called trust people (V-people), which has hired the protection of the Constitution within the party.

The government and the Bundestag to leave the country alone

The justification of the banning of political parties is competent the Second Senate of the Federal constitutional court is unambiguous: “the presence of the state at the leadership level of a party of power influence on the formation and activities inevitable.” Consequently, a constitutionally fair trial is impossible. This is the second time that starts this Tuesday (01.03.2016) with the hearing, otherwise.

In the 250 pages of comprehensive text, it says: “at the Latest since 6. December 2012, are terminated after a decision by the Minister of the interior conference on the information relationship to all sources on the leadership level of the NPD ( … ).” It is the day on which the Minister of the interior of the 16 Federal States decide, after a long discussion, to submit a second application for a ban.

NPD Protest during a crucial Meeting of the Minister of the interior in Warnemünde, 2012

Then it takes another year until the Federal Council submits the application to the Federal constitutional court. The Federal government and the Bundestag are in this Time. While they welcome the Initiative of the countries, but, apparently, doubt about the success of the procedure.

The Saxon state Parliament since 2014 NPD-free

These doubts are now perhaps even greater than two years ago. Because since then, the NPD has lost in importance. In Saxony, they flew at the state election, 2014 to the Parliament. So their government funds were lost in the millions. Only in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, there is a NPD-group with five members. In the Bundestag the party was never.

The NPD threat potential for decades of strong and well-fortified German democracy seems to be quite low. Nevertheless, the States argue in the petition to ban the NPD, which was, “to eliminate the free democratic basic order within the Whole.” This would, however, since 1964, to argue, the founding year of the extreme right-wing party. Their programmatic proximity to national socialist ideology was also apparent.

A direct link to the NSU is barely detectable

In the Wake of the refugee crisis, more noticeable xenophobia is likely to favor the NPD, but in the prohibition proceedings, it will be able to her, this development is not directly to blame.

The alleged NSU helpers Ralf-life (2.v.l.) and the former NPD chief Udo Voigt (4.v.l.) In 2007, in Jena, Germany

The boundaries between the NPD, the anti-Islam Pegida are fluent movement and also the Alternative for Germany (AfD). Apart from that, the ban was tabled, as in Germany, almost every week, refugee accommodation burned.

The trigger for the second attempt, the blowing of the extreme right-wing terrorist group “national socialist underground” (NSU) and the horror of the ten murders was finally. That in the Person of Ralf Wohlleben, a former NPD functionary at the NSU trial in Munich, sitting on the dock is one thing. The other and much more difficult to prove, it is a direct line between the party and the terrorist group. After nearly three years of the NSU process, there are no convincing arguments.

NPD propaganda against foreigners and refugees on an election poster in Rhineland-Palatinate

It seems almost a paradox: The NPD need to be concerned about at a time of your existence, where you run anyway, the voters in droves. Intra-party squabbles with several changes to the party leadership. On the Homepage there is, of course, is still combative: “The NPD is fighting!” is there on the home page. In addition, Justitia is depicted, the goddess of justice. In the left Hand she holds the scales, in the right of the sword.

Where are the limits of freedom of expression?

After a few seconds, the image changes automatically: “The boat is full – the asylum flood stop!”. NPD pur. A Slogan, but also that others have taken for a long time. “Active-combative and aggressive Actions of the NPD”, of the petition to ban the speech is, is not the certainly. Such Statements are permissible expression of opinion falling in the area. The NPD should be considered actually as an anti-constitutional party, would you still the way to go before the European court of human rights in Strasbourg. The requirements of a party ban are considered particularly strict.