No ban for Germany’s far-right NPD, Constitutional Court rules

The Constitutional Court of Germany has rejected a bid by lawmakers to ban the far-right National Democratic Party, NPD.

On announcing the ruling in Karslruhe on Tuesday, Court President Andreas Vosskuhle said that the party’s radical ideology was not enough to merit a ban.

He said that it posed no active threat to democracy.

The NPD, frequently accused of having neo-Nazi links, has been losing influence through the years amid the rise of more socially acceptable right-wing populist movements.

According to the Germany constitution, plaintiffs must prove a party’s ideology is “combative and aggressive” and poses an active threat to the country’s democratic order.

This is the second time that the court in Karlsruhe has ruled against a bid to ban the NPD.

In 2003, the court rejected a similar attempt due to the high number of state informants who had infiltrated the party.

(Reuters/NAN)