The campaign calling for a ban on the AfD will be present this weekend at several protests in Essen, the city that hosts the party’s national congress on Saturday and Sunday.
An alliance in Germany that brings together lawyers, social workers, activists, trade unionists and members of civil society demands Immediate ban of far-right party AfD and the reactions have been “overwhelming,” the spokesperson tells Lusa.
The Alternative for Germany (AfD) has been the target of several controversies in recent months that have sparked protests. An investigation by the journalist consortium “Correctiv” brought thousands of people onto the streets of several German cities to protest against the party. A plan for mass deportations of foreign citizens and “unassimilated” Germans was discussed at a meeting in Potsdam. Members of the AfD were said to be present at the meeting.
The new movement, titled “Immediate Ban on the AfD,” was formed specifically as a result of the conclusions of this meeting.
The campaign calling for a ban on the AfD will be present this weekend at several protests in Essen, the city hosting the party’s national congress on Saturday and Sunday.
“It is also the result of the experience that warnings, actions and demonstrations against the AfD in recent years have achieved little. At the same time, the AfD has increasingly transformed into a party dominated by right-wing fascist forces; The less radical forces have become increasingly distant,” said Julia Dück in statements to the Lusa agency.
“Also thanks to Correctiv’s investigation it has become clearer again that the AfD works with radical right-wing and violent forces (…) We have to do something against this party now. We have to ban the party, because it clearly violates the Basic Law and violates human dignity,” he continued.
Despite the scandals of involvement with Russia and China of the two main AfD candidates for the European elections, the party managed to be the second most voted, ahead of the political forces that form the government.
“The increasingly visible strengthening of far-right forces is not a purely German phenomenon, but also a European one. However, the campaign is not a reaction to the European elections (…) The results of the European elections were predictable and constitute a warning,” explained the spokesperson for this alliance.
Julia Dück reveals that, after launching the campaign a week ago, they have received many contacts from people interested in joining the cause.
“Our impression is that the majority of people in Germany feel and understand very clearly the danger that the AfD represents. What is needed is courage to stand up and we want to channel that through the campaign,” she assumes.
The movement guarantees that it will be present at demonstrations and in the media, it will approach political leaders and go to local associations, clubs and organizations to inform and mobilize as many people as possible.
“The aim is to ‘denormalise’ the racist and nationalist policies of the AfD and to exert pressure in order to find a majority in the Bundestag (parliament) to initiate the ban process,” the spokeswoman said.
Source: Observadora
