March 03, 2021 – 5:30 p.m. Clock
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Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) – The classification of the AfD as a suspected case by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution has sparked violent protests from party representatives from the southwest. The AfD state chairwoman Alice Weidel announced legal steps. “The Office for the Protection of the Constitution acts purely politically on the question of the AfD,” said Weidel, who is also the leader of the AfD in the Bundestag, on Wednesday at the dpa in Stuttgart. In view of the upcoming state and federal elections, the move is particularly remarkable. “I am sure that such a classification of the AfD will not stand before the Federal Constitutional Court.”
The protection of the constitution of the federal government can now monitor telephones and use informants. Is that a mortgage in the election campaign?
THE TOP CANDIDATE – AfD top candidate Bernd Gögel sees the classification as a political maneuver, speaks of a “totally undemocratic act” and a “pathetic dumbing down of voters”. However, he does not expect any major effects on the AfD’s election result. “You shouldn’t overestimate that. The voters have other worries,” he said – about the corona restrictions. The secret service has discredited itself. In terms of content, Gögel did not want to evaluate the step. The 66-year-old is considered to be relatively moderate in the group. He also indicated the AfD’s failures in dealing with right-wing extremists: “It makes no sense to hold a protective hand over people who apparently have nothing to do with our party and our ideals,” said Gögel. “Perhaps we did not act with ultimate consistency in these areas.”
THE FACTION VICE FROM THE RIGHT EDGE – Gögels deputy Emil Sänze, who is assigned to the ethnic-national camp, even regards the maneuver as an election campaign aid for the AfD. “That’s a steep assist,” he said. That drives the success of the AfD even further, as people classify this as a cheap election campaign trick. “You want to silence and damage an unpopular competitor.” Sänze spoke of a “surveillance with announcement” that was expected. “We just wouldn’t have believed that they would do that right before the election and make themselves so ridiculous,” he said.
THE CONSTITUTIONAL PROTECTION IN THE COUNTRY – The secret service in the southwest does not change anything in its dealings with the AfD and, unlike the Federal Office, does not want to spy on or wiretap the party. At the moment, the protection of the constitution in the southwest is only evaluating publicly available sources such as newspaper articles on the AfD. The German press agency learned on Wednesday from the Ministry of the Interior that the AfD regional association was no longer an object of observation – quite the opposite of the youth organization “Junge Alternative Baden-Württemberg” and the formally disbanded “wing”, which are being observed by intelligence agencies.
THE SITUATION OF AFD – The way to the state elections has so far been quite bumpy for the AfD, even without constitutional protection officers. For months one looked in vain for a hall for a presence party congress, and the election as the top candidate failed several times due to a lack of majorities. The right-wing populists recently reached 10 or 11 percent in polls. In the state elections in 2016, the AfD still had 15.1 percent of the vote. That corresponded to 23 mandates. After fierce wing fights and several resignations, there are now just 15. The AfD made headlines in the state, especially with expulsion procedures and members of the right wing, who let the police lead them out of the plenary session.
THE BACKGROUND – The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution has classified the entire AfD as a suspected right-wing extremist case. According to dpa information, the authority’s president, Thomas Haldenwang, informed the state offices for the protection of the constitution on Wednesday in an internal video conference. In the event of a suspected case, there are “sufficiently weighty actual indications” for anti-constitutional efforts. Due to ongoing legal proceedings, the Federal Office is currently not making a public statement on the question of the AfD’s assessment. The “Spiegel” and several other media had previously reported on the classification.
THE OTHER – The political opponent is happy about the stricter actions of the constitutional protectors in the federal government. “The right-wing extremist wing still plays a dominant role in the shrunken parliamentary group and in the party,” said the chairman of the parliamentary control body, Uli Sckerl (Greens). Many AfD state parliament candidates are openly right-wing extremists and are doing common cause with corona deniers and conspiracy ideologues. “The observation by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution severely restricts their right-wing extremist activities.”
“The AfD’s allegations are absurd,” said CDU internal politician Thomas Blenke. “With the best will in the world, I cannot imagine that the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution wants to interfere in the Baden-Württemberg election campaign.” Politicians from the SPD and FDP also welcomed the move, as did the police union: “Our members speak out very clearly against racist and extremist tendencies, regardless of their orientation,” said the deputy state chairman Gundram Lottmann.
THE SCIENTIST – The Freiburg political scientist Ulrich Eith predicts only a small effect on the state elections, but if so, then rather slightly deterring. The question of the observation of the AfD has been in the air for a long time, so AfD voters could not be too surprised, said Eith. But he also says: “If a right-wing party is observed by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, this has so far resulted in West Germany not voting for a number of conservative protest voters.” Therefore it is a shame to observe the AfD. In East Germany, however, voices can even be heard who see the observation “almost as a positive appreciation of their work”.
The effect is limited by the high percentage of postal voters, said Eith. Many would have made their crosses long ago.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210303-99-673272 / 3
Source: DPA
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