The majority sees possible advantages for the party

Several members of the Bundestag now want to initiate proceedings to ban the AfD. How is this viewed by the German population?

The discussion about a possible ban against the AfD has become a permanent topic in German politics. This Wednesday, a cross-party group of members of the Bundestag will submit a corresponding proposal to the Bundestag.

Critics claim that the AfD itself could benefit from such a procedure. For example, they mean that the process could take several years and the chances of success are unclear.

Enough reasons against a ban? The opinion research institute Civey asked exclusively for t-online: “Do you think that the AfD would benefit or not benefit from a ban?”

A clear majority of those surveyed see it like the critics: 68 percent assume that a ban on the AfD, regardless of the result, could actually benefit the party. Only around 15 percent believe that such a procedure would have had negative consequences for the party.

If you look at the survey results according to the region in which the respondents live, you can see that the opinions between East and West Germany are relatively similar. In the East, 73 percent believe that the AfD could benefit from a ban, while in the West, 66 percent believe this.

A party can be classified as unconstitutional and banned if its goals or behavior threaten the free democratic basic order or endanger the existence of the Federal Republic of Germany. If the Federal Constitutional Court were to decide against the AfD in such a case, it would have far-reaching consequences.

The exact question in the survey was: “Do you think that the AfD would benefit more or not benefit from a ban procedure?”, with the answer options “Definitely benefiting”, “Probably benefiting”, “Undecided”, “Probably not benefiting” and “ Clearly not benefiting.” The opinion research institute Civey took into account the answers of 5,003 respondents from October 4th to October 7th, 2024 for the overall result.