On 7 November, 2024, Prof. Dr. Emanuel V. Towfigh was invited by the initiators of the motion for a decision by the German Bundestag on the »initiation of proceedings to determine the unconstitutionality of the AfD«—Martina Renner (party »Die Linke«), Stefan Seidler (»SSW«), Till Steffen (»Die Grünen«), Marco Wanderwitz (»CDU«) and Carmen Wegge (»SPD«)—to take part in an informative event for MPs, together with investigative journalist Dirk Laabs and research assistant Svea Alberti. Despite the current government’s falling out, around 40 MPs and staff were present.

The event was impressive: the MPs and employees present were committed, critical, interested and well-informed in their questioning, driven by a serious struggle to do justice to their duties and responsibilities and, above all, to protect the constitution.

The »Wanderwitz Group« is more determined than ever, radiating energy and optimism. In view of the upcoming new elections, they declare: »Now more than ever!« It is also to be expected that the forthcoming report by the Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz (BfV) [Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution], which is likely to lead to an upgrade of the AfD as a whole to »confirmed right-wing extremist« in the coming weeks, will trigger political pressure to act—not only in the Bundestag, but also in the federal government. A defensible democracy provides for instruments such as the BfV, but the results of its work must then also have consequences; many organs and agencies have an important role to play in the finely balanced political order of the Federal Republic in the protection of the constitution.

Among other things, Prof. Dr. Emanuel V. Towfigh emphasized that

• the ban is not decided by political parties or the Bundestag, Federal Government or Bundesrat, but by the »guardian of political competition«, the Federal Constitutional Court;
• the requirements for a party ban are met;
• the defensibility of our constitution is a decision of our political community, therefore it is not at the discretion of the constitutional bodies whether a party ban is applied for;
• the inactivity of a constitutional body (such as the government) cannot justify inactivity in return (by the Bundestag);
• a party ban is not the end, but the beginning of the political confrontation with right-wing extremist views—it first re-establishes a »level playing ground«.

In any case, Prof. Dr. Emanuel V. Towfigh was impressed by the strong intergroup work (which Martina Renner describes as the »Sternstunde« [finest hour] of her parliamentary work).

An assessment of the prospects of a party ban procedure by Svea Alberti and Prof. Dr. Emanuel V. Towfigh can be found here [in German].

[Translated by DeepL]