“Wolf in sheep’s clothing”
AfD observation meets with a lot of approval
03/09/2022, 6:38 p.m
According to the judgment of the Cologne Administrative Court, the AfD may be observed by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. While the party is still considering taking action against it, there is encouragement from other parties and the Central Council of Jews. The police union sees an impact on work in the public sector.
The decision of the administrative court in Cologne to classify the AfD as a so-called suspected case was welcomed by the Central Council of Jews in Germany, the police union and politicians from other parties. AfD top representatives held back on Wednesday with reactions. Party leader Tino Chrupalla said when asked that one had to wait for the written reasons for the verdict in order to be able to discuss how to proceed. “We will not be impressed by the verdict in our opposition policy.”
The court decided on Tuesday that the Office for the Protection of the Constitution can classify and monitor the AfD as a suspected case. The party had tried to prevent that. Such a classification enables the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, under certain conditions, to monitor communications and to use undercover agents and other intelligence services. However, it is not yet legally binding – an appeal is possible. Chrupalla had said that the AfD would decide whether to lodge further appeals on the basis of the written reasons for the judgment.
“As bourgeois as a combat boot”
“With the classification as a suspected case, the true face of the AfD, which often bears the traits of a right-wing extremist grimace, will finally become visible,” said Central Council President Josef Schuster. He accused the party of presenting itself as a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” in recent months. “In order to avert an observation by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, she tried to put on a cloak of bourgeoisie.”
Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann said in the ZDF “Morgenmagazin” about the verdict that politically this was another signal to the citizens to think very carefully “whether you can give a vote to such a party, which is a suspected case, at least a split relationship to our constitutional state”. The deputy FDP parliamentary group leader Konstantin Kuhle spoke of the necessary legal certainty for the fight against right-wing extremism. “The decision shows: The AfD is as bourgeois as a combat boot.”
The verdict was also welcomed by SPD, Greens and CSU politicians. The Social Democratic Minister of the Interior of Rhineland-Palatinate, Roger Lewentz, said the verdict sent a “clear signal to all enemies of the constitution”. The domestic spokeswoman for the Greens in the Bundestag, Lamya Kaddor, spoke of a good day “for our democracy”. The AfD is “a disgrace for Germany” and has “strong anti-constitutional aspirations,” wrote CSU General Secretary Stephan Mayer on Twitter. “It’s good that she can now be observed by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution.”
“At least in large parts extremist”
The police union (GdP) announced that its assessment “of the danger posed by the AfD to democracy and coexistence in this country” was confirmed. “The AfD is at least in large parts an extremist party that represents misanthropic views,” said GdP federal chairman Oliver Malchow.
According to the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the judgment could also affect civil servants and employees who are members of the AfD. Every employee in the public sector has committed to the goals of the constitution, said the President of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Thomas Haldenwang, in the ZDF “Morgenmagazin”. He could imagine that there would be case-by-case assessments of whether these employees could remain in public service.
A political commitment in the AfD and the police profession did not go together, said GdP boss Malchow. The police in this country do not act with political motivation, but act within the framework of the law and on the basis of the free-democratic basic order.