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Court halts AfD attempt to throw out far-right figurehead

A Berlin court has accepted an appeal made by far-right politician Andreas Kalbitz against the Alternative for Germany’s decision to annul his party membership.

Published: 20 June 2020 11:32 CEST

Court halts AfD attempt to throw out far-right figurehead

Andreas Kalbitz. Photo: DPA

The Berlin court on Friday granted Kalbitz an interim injunction against the decision to annul his membership, stating the he must remain a party member until an official decision is made by the AfD’s internal party arbitration panel.

In May party leader Jörg Meuthen persuaded a majority of the leadership to back him in annulling Kalbitz’s membership after he was found to have hidden a previous association with a banned neo-nazi organisation called the “Heimattreue Deutsche Jugend” (Patriotic German Youth).

The decision was carried by narrow majority of seven party committee members for with five opposing. The Heimattreue Deutsche Jugend is one of a number of far-right organisations which the AfD's conditions of membership prohibit association with.

Kalbitz, who was party leader in the eastern state of Brandenburg up until the decision, denies ever having been a member of the Heimattreue Deutsche Jugend.

The Berlin court’s decision is likely to further escalate tensions between the east and west German factions inside the party, with Kalbitz being a figurehead of the more hard line eastern faction.

Along with Thuringian party leader Björn Höcke, in 2015 Klabitz founded the Flügel, a nationalistic and xenophobic pressure group inside the party. Germany’s domestic spy agency, the BfV, decided earlier this year to classify the group as “extreme right wing” giving it the remit to put the organisation under surveillance.

Since the announcement of that decision the AfD has been riven by internal disputes over whether to remove the most extreme members of the party in order to avoid further attention from the intelligence services or whether to stick to the xenophobic course which secured it 12.6 percent of the vote at the last election.

Meuthen suggested in March – to the consternation of party colleagues – that the AfD should consider splitting into a “conservative” western chapter and a “nationalistic” eastern one.

The party’s popularity has dropped significantly since the star of the year, with polls regularly showing them at 9 percent, a drop of around 6 percent since January. Pollsters put this down to party feuding and the resurgence of Angela Merkel’s CDU since the corona virus outbreak.

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Output is expected to expand 0.3 percent this year, the economy ministry said, up from a prediction of 0.2 percent in February.

The slightly rosier picture comes after improvements in key indicators — from factory output to business activity — boosted hopes a recovery may be getting under way.

The German economy shrank slightly last year, hit by soaring inflation, a manufacturing slowdown and weakness in trading partners, and has acted as a major drag on the 20-nation eurozone.

But releasing its latest projections, the economy ministry said in a statement there were growing indications of a “turning point”.

“Signs of an economic upturn have increased significantly, especially in recent weeks,” Economy Minister Robert Habeck said at a press conference.

The ministry also cut its forecast for inflation this year to 2.4 percent, from a previous prediction of 2.8 percent, and sees the figure falling below two percent next year.

“The fall in inflation will lead to consumer demand — people have more money in their wallets again, and will spend this money,” said Habeck.

“So purchasing power is increasing, real wages are rising and this will contribute to a domestic economic recovery.”

Energy prices — which surged after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine — had also fallen and supply chain woes had eased, he added.

Several months ago there had been expectations of a strong rebound in 2024, with forecasts of growth above one percent, but these were dialled back at the start of the year as the economy continued to languish.

‘Germany has fallen behind’

But improving signs have fuelled hopes the lumbering economy — while not about to break into a sprint — may at least be getting back on its feet.

On Wednesday a closely-watched survey from the Ifo institute showed business sentiment rising for a third consecutive month in April, and more strongly than expected.

A key purchasing managers’ index survey this week showed that business activity in Germany had picked up.

And last week the central bank, the Bundesbank, forecast the economy would expand slightly in the first quarter, dodging a recession, after earlier predicting a contraction.

German Economics Minister Robert Habeck

Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) presents the latest economic forecasts at a press conference in Berlin on Wednesday, April 24th. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Michael Kappeler

Despite the economy’s improving prospects, growth of 0.3 percent is still slower than other developed economies and below past rates, and officials fret it is unlikely to pick up fast in the years ahead.

Habeck has repeatedly stressed solutions are needed for deep-rooted problems facing Germany, from an ageing population to labour shortages and a transition towards greener industries that is moving too slowly.

“Germany has fallen behind other countries in terms of competitiveness,” he said. “We still have a lot to do — we have to roll up our sleeves.”

Already facing turbulence from pandemic-related supply chain woes, the German economy’s problems deepened dramatically when Russia invaded Ukraine and slashed supplies of gas, hitting the country’s crucial manufacturers hard.

While the energy shock has faded, continued weakness in trading partners such as China, widespread strikes in recent months and higher eurozone interest rates have all prolonged the pain.

The European Central Bank has signalled it could start cutting borrowing costs in June, which would boost the eurozone.

But Habeck stressed that care was still needed as, despite the expectations of imminent easing, “tight monetary policy has not yet been lifted.”

In addition, disagreements in Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-party ruling coalition are hindering efforts to reignite growth, critics say.

This week the pro-business FDP party, a coalition partner, faced an angry backlash from Scholz’s SPD when it presented a 12-point plan for an “economic turnaround”, including deep cuts to state benefits.

Christian Lindner, the fiscally hawkish FDP finance minister, welcomed signs of “stabilisation” in the economic forecasts but stressed that projected medium-term growth was “too low to sustainably finance our state”.

“There are no arguments for postponing the economic turnaround,” he added.