German CDU Figures Face Backlash Over AfD Ban Debate After Saxony-Anhalt Election

Following the election in Saxony-Anhalt, Chancellor Merz publicly questioned the state's "federal loyalty" even before the AfD had governed for a single day, a move evoking uncomfortable memories of 1932, shortly before the Weimar Republic's collapse. NRW Minister-President Hendrik Wüst chose to court attention from political powerlessness, launching a renewed debate about a possible ban procedure against the AfD immediately after an election result embarrassing for the CDU. Wanting to ban the election winner in response reveals contempt for voters and a disturbed relationship with democracy, aside from the notorious tendency to discipline East Germans. The ban is described as the most unsuitable, hopeless, and ultimately self-destructive attempt to deal with a political rival.