The National Democratic Party of Germany was founded in 1964, and has been shrouded in controversy ever since. Often labeled by both citizens and government entities as a Neo-Nazi organization, the NPD is not well liked; in fact, they have never attained the 5% of votes necessary to be represented in the German federal government.
Yet even banished to the fringes, the NPD has proved to be a toxic group. It spouts unapologetically racist rhetoric, and senior members have even been found to hold personal ties to a string of race-fueled murders. The belief that human beings are created inherently unequal is one of their foundational convictions, a notion that dangerously echoes that of a major party in Germany’s harrowing past.
In response, the upper house of Parliament brought about a suit in March 2016, imploring the Federal constitutional court to ban the NPD once and for all. In mid-January the long-awaited ruling was released, favoring the extreme right. The court proclaimed:
The NPD intends to replace the existing constitutional system with an authoritarian national state that adheres to the idea of an ethnically defined ‘people’s community.’ However, currently there is a lack of specific and weighty indications suggesting that this endeavour will be successful. It appears to be entirely impossible that the NPD will succeed in achieving its aims by parliamentary or extra-parliamentary democratic means.
In short, officials agreed that though the party is racist and hateful, it does not have the capacity to attain the power necessary to present a threat to democracy.
This decision was a mistake. The NPD isn’t simply a naughty child that should be left to play alone in the corner; rather, it is a pernicious opponent to both Germany’s values and the safety of its minority populations. Despite their lack of representation on the federal level, NPD’s members have clinched seats in state parliaments 11 times to date. They even won a spot in the European Parliament in 2014, and are currently eligible to receive taxpayer-funded support from the government. The rise in German anti-immigrant sentiment and resulting bolstering of the far right bodes well for the NPD’s future.
Following their victorious ruling, the party rejoiced on social media and interpreted the event as a validation of their legitimacy. Though the court’s decision can be seen as disparaging, in the sense that the NPD is too weak to be trifled with, the reality and strength of their Neo-Nazi convictions cannot be denied. The hateful thoughts of individuals are not governable, but allowing those individuals to gather together and use democracy to magnify their voices and financially bolster their infrastructure is utterly unacceptable.
To avoid repeating a heinous past at all costs, the German government must not tolerate organized racism.