The entire state of Rheinland-Pfalz is toying with a strategy to outright ban AfD candidates from elected office, in this, the best and most democratic Germany of all time
From Junge Freiheit, just this morning:
AfD members are not allowed to run for mayoral office in the municipality of Nieder-Olm. Candidates for election must sign a declaration stating that they are not members of Alternative für Deutschland, because the party occurs on a “list of extremist organisations” issued by Social Democrat-led Interior Ministry of Rheinland-Pfalz …
In addition to the strongest-polling party in Germany, the list also includes the Islamist terrorist organizations Al-Qaeda and Hamas. Interior Minister Michael Ebling (SPD) has not, however, included on this list the militant group “Antifa Ost,” also known as the “Hammer Gang,” although the U.S. has declared it a terrorist organisation. Various Antifa Ost members are presently on trial in Germany and Hungary for attempted murder.
Nieder-Olm is set to elect their mayor on 22 March. Roberto Kiefer hopes to run for office as the AfD candidate. “This is tantamount to banning the party,” the 57-year-old German-American said … Despite being unable to comply with the requirement that he not be a member of the AfD, Kiefer will still apply for eligibility with the district administration on Thursday.
The backstory here is ominous in its simplicity:
Back in July, the Rheinland-Pfalz Interior Minister Michael Ebling published a “Declaration of Constitutional Loyalty.” All civil servants in his state are asked to sign this declaration and thereby to attest their loyalty to the Basic Law and the state constitution. They must also pledge that they are not presently members of any of the groups currently considered to be “extremist” by the goons in the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. Any civil servant who refuses to sign this bizarre document will be subjected to bureaucratic harassment in the form of an “individual review,” which could result in disciplinary proceedings or even termination.
The question we all want answered, is to what degree the powers that be in Rheinland-Pfalz also hope to impose this “Declaration of Constitutional Loyalty” on elected officials. Doing so might come close to a de facto AfD ban, depending on what measures are triggered by a refusal to sign. The case of Nieder-Olm seemed to answer this question in the affirmative. They would indeed try to use this declaration to ban AfD candidates from every elected office in all of Rheinland-Pfalz, where more than four million Germans live and where the AfD is polling at just over 20%.
This story quickly became national news. Almost immediately, Nieder-Olm deleted from their website the requirement that mayoral candidates sign this declaration, and Interior Minister Ebling gave a strange interview to Welt, in which he claimed to know nothing about Kiefer’s case and insisted that AfD candidates are not subjected to a blanket ban on running for office in his state. He said nothing, however, about what constitutional loyalty tests might be imposed on elected AfD officials when they attempt to assume office.
The Social Democrats in Rheinland-Pfalz absolutely hope to use their bullshit constitutional loyalty test as an electoral strategy against the AfD. Some months ago, the sitting (ex-SPD) mayor of Ludwigshafen colluded with the state Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the municipal election committee to deny another AfD mayoral candidate, Joachim Paul, his right to run for office – also on constitutional grounds. Paul’s interest in Tolkien and his criticism of migrants, they argued, raised doubts about his loyalty to the constitution. In protest, many Ludwigshafen voters boycotted the election or submitted invalid ballots, while the U.S. State Department invited Paul to Washington.
Apparently their idea of democracy is a political system where the people get to vote for candidates approved by the government.
Less than 100 years and everything's gone to hell again. Everywhere.