Germany Ponders Banning Its Second Most Popular Political Party

Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk.com,

Similar to US states attempting to ban Trump from elections, Germany is discussing banning AfD, its second largest political party.

Image from Wikipedia, anecdotes by Mish

If you don’t like the popularity of the opposition, ban it.

SPD won the last federal election and struggled to form a coalition. Eventually it came to terms with the Greens and FDP, dubbed the Traffic Light Coalition based on the colors of the party flags.

Problems arose from the start because FDP is pro-business and the Greens are as far from pro-business as you can get. The Traffic Light has gone from 52% in the last election to 33 percent today.

FDP’s price for jumping into this bed is a collapse from 11.5 percent to 5.0 percent. This puts FDP on the bubble. It takes a minimum of 5 percent of the vote (with certain exclusions) to get ant seats in Parliament.

Germany Is Thinking of Simply Banning the Far Right

On December 13, Foreign Policy noted Germany Is Thinking of Simply Banning the Far Right

Last week, Germany’s domestic intelligence agency took the dramatic step of classifying the Saxony state branch of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party as a threat to democracy—a potential first step towards banning it outright as unconstitutional. “There can be no doubt about the extreme right orientation of this party,” declared Dirk-Martin Christian, president of Saxony’s State Office for the Protection of the Constitution.

Although Germany has, in the past, exercised constitutional powers in the name of domestic security to rein in hardcore far-right (and radical leftist) forces, the objects of censure were marginal neo-Nazi parties and associations that had no chance of coming to power—even at the municipal level or in coalition governments. The AfD is a different story. Opinion polls show the AfD as the strongest party by far today in eastern Germany; riding a powerful wave of anti-immigrant sentiment, it has also notched record tallies in western German state elections and is poised to win the most votes next year in the country’s eastern half. It could conceivably wield executive power, should conservatives—such as the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) or the pro-business Free Democratic Party (FDP)—consider it in their interests to treat the far-right party as a legitimate expression of popular will.

Moreover, in the wake of Geert Wilders’s far-right Party for Freedom’s victory in the Netherlands in November, like-minded contenders across Europe, including the AfD, are expected to perform better than ever in June’s European Parliament election, an event that would have ominous ramifications for the European Union—and beyond.

Much like the rulings on Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia, Germany’s intelligence agency declared that leading members and functionaries of the Saxony AfD regularly express racist, Islamophobic, and antisemitic sentiments. It labeled the branch as one with “typically ethnic-nationalistic positions” and said that both it and its national youth organization work in tandem with known neo-Nazi and officially banned movements, such as the Reichsbürger movement.

Elites Panic

MSN reports Elites Panic After Underrepresented Right-Wing Party Becomes Biggest Party In Germany

The MSN article is a word-for-word copy of ‘Can’t Beat Em, Ban Em’: Governing German Party Suggests Banning Surging Populist Opposition written four days ago.

The articles are wrong. AfD is not the largest party in Germany but it might be the largest party in East Germany.

Behold, the Rise of the Anti-Greens

I have been writing about this story for a while. On July 24, 2023 I proclaimed Behold, the Rise of the Anti-Greens

A major revolt is underway in the EU. Citizens have finally had enough of Green nonsense. The latest polls provide all the evidence you need.

The German AfD party is now polling 22 percent ahead of every party other than Union (CDU/CSU).

Germany is now approaching the point that even if all the centrist parties united in a super-grand coalition that might not top 50 percent.

Super-Grand Coalition

Let’s do the math on that idea, using the lead chart.

SPD + Union (CDU/CSU), + Greens = 16 + 31 + 12 = 59. That’s still a comfortable majority.

However, these parties mix like anchovies, beer, and ice cream.

Wilders’ Freedom Party Wins Netherlands Election

“De-Islamization” of the Netherlands

Ban the Quran, shut mosques

Close the borders to migrants from Islamic countries.

“Nexit” Referendum to Leave the EU

Unexpected Win

In an unexpected election result (but shouldn’t have been), Far-Right Populist Geert Wilders Scores Major Victory in Dutch Election

Wilders’ Freedom Party, or PVV, which has promised to halt all immigration to the Netherlands, was set to win 37 out of 150 seats in the country’s parliament, based on projections by Dutch news agency ANP based on results from almost all voting districts. The PVV’s closest rival, former European Commissioner Frans Timmermans’ Labor/Green Left coalition, was projected to secure 25 seats.

37 out of 150 seats does not sound link much, but PVV is the top vote getter. Generally, the winning party will form a coalition, but the other parties have generally pledged not to be in government with him.

This gets harder and harder to do, especially when every party is extreme right or extreme left.

France Tries to Keep Marine le Pen Off the Ballot

On December 14, I noted EU Integration Stopped and Is Now Headed in Reverse

The EU has always been dysfunctional. But integration and cooperation are now going backward. Hoping to stop the threat, Marine le Pen faces charges dating back to 2015.

By any strange coincidence do events in Germany and France sound familiar with events in the US?

Monumental Supreme Court Decision

In the US, Colorado and Maine declared Trump could not be on the ballot in those states due to insurrection. Illinois is on deck considering the same.

For discussion, please see Pelosi Says States Should Decide on Trump, Supreme Court Will Rule Otherwise

Complete Destruction of the Middle

In Germany, the US, and the Netherlands there is a complete destruction of the middle.

France appears headed in that direction.

Why Biden’s Approval Rating Is Miserable in One Economic Chart

Income is rising and so are wages. Even real income is up. But real wages are another matter.

Personal income data from the BEA, hourly wages from the BLS, real hourly earnings and chart by Mish.

On January 2, I explained why Why Biden’s Approval Rating Is Miserable in One Economic Chart

In the US, people struggle with rent and the cost of food, and Biden is wasting hundreds of billions of dollars on untenable Green projects. And he wants wants hundreds of billions more for wars in Israel and Ukraine that are essentially none of our business.

Also The Free Money Has Run Out and it Shows in the Polls

The third and largest round of fiscal stimulus was in March of 2021. That’s when Biden’s popularity peaked at 55.1 percent.

People are fed up with inflation, green lunacy, and warmongering everywhere, but the Left keeps doubling down.