Lars Klingbeil, one of the three leaders of the German Social Democratic Party (SPD) and Deputy Minister-President in Friedrich Merz’s government, is calling for serious consideration to be given to initiating proceedings against the AfD with a view to banning the party, which is by far the largest in the opinion polls in Germany.
Klingbeil made this demand on the political podcast ‘unter 3’ on the Phoenix TV channel, reports Die Welt.
“The time has come. The review process must now be taken up for consideration,” said Klingbeil.
Similar proposals have been put forward on numerous occasions in the past, but these voices have quietened somewhat as the party has grown far larger than the CDU/CSU and has recently enjoyed resounding success in two state elections.
However, amongst Germany’s political establishment, the antipathy towards the AfD remains as strong as ever, and Klingbeil makes a thinly veiled allusion to Nazism to brand Alice Weidel’s team.
The AfD is quite clearly anti-constitutional. “I do not want us, in our German history, to make the same mistake a second time, namely failing to defend ourselves in time against the enemies of democracy,” said the SPD politician. He hoped that all democratic forces would see it the same way.
Just as Merz did following the electoral disaster in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, where the CDU failed to clear the electoral threshold, Klingbeil also insists that the government must continue its reform efforts. However, the SPD leader felt that the Chancellor had phrased this in an inappropriate manner:
Initially, Klingbeil showed understanding for the dissatisfaction amongst many citizens who criticised the German government’s policies, for example regarding pensions or healthcare. “Communication has gone a bit awry there.” Reforms are inevitable, but there is ‘a difference between me, as a politician, telling people in this country: “Actually, you are the problem – you work too little, you are off sick too often, you need to make more of an effort, and then we would sort all this out.” Or whether one says: ‘We have difficult years ahead of us, and so everyone must do their bit.’’ It was Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) who had previously faced repeated criticism for similar statements, particularly from the SPD.
– “Only the AfD can save Germany,” declared Elon Musk in December 2024, before going on to reiterate his support for the party on several occasions.
During the Munich Security Conference in February 2025, US Vice-President JD Vance declined to meet Germany’s then Chancellor Olaf Scholz, choosing instead to prioritise a meeting with Alice Weidel.
