The premier of Germany's most populous state is calling for a ban on the Alternative for Germany (AfD) to be examined, days after the far-right earned a resounding victory in Saxony-Anhalt.
Hendrik Wüst, the conservative leader of North Rhine-Westphalia, said on Tuesday that a working group consisting of representatives from Germany's 16 states and the federal government should review the constitutional options regarding a ban for the AfD.
"I warn against hasty moves on an AfD ban, because banning a political party can only be the last resort if we want to protect our constitution," said Wüst, a member of Chancellor Friedrich Merz's Christian Democratic Union (CDU).
"There must now be a structure in which these questions are examined carefully, professionally and seriously by the federal and state governments," he added. "The overall question is how the state deals constitutionally with a party that is pursuing anti-constitutional aims in at least some individual states."
Under German law, political parties can be banned by the Federal Constitutional Court, but only after receiving an official petition to do so by either house of parliament or the government.
Last year, domestic intelligence agencies deemed the AfD a "confirmed" extremist organization, although the classification was suspended pending a court case.
Several of the party's chapters in eastern Germany have received the classification, which allows authorities to put organizations under surveillance.
This includes Saxony-Anhalt, where the AfD narrowly missed out on an absolute majority of seats in parliament in Sunday's election, but could still lead a minority government after winning 43.8% of the vote.