Germany's establishment is trying to ban the AfD — again

In an op-ed published by Die Zeit on Wednesday, Lars Klingbeil, the German Vice Chancellor and co-chairman of the Social Democrats (SPD), reignited the long-running debate on banning the Right-wing nationalist Alternative für Deutschland (AfD). A legal opinion issued by a group of scholars for the Society for Civil Rights (GFF) makes examining whether to ban the party "democratic duty", Klingbeil said, as "independent academics have demonstrated that the AfD is systematically working to destroy our democracy and rule of law."