SPD Going Alone

The main impulse for a renewed attempt to outlaw the party derives from the assault by a 50-strong mob on a group of eight Indians in the small eastern German town of Mügeln on August 18.

The calls for caution arise from fears the politicians will suffer an embarrassing defeat as they did in 2003, when the Constitutional Court, based in the city of Karlsruhe, rejected a case put forward jointly by both houses of parliament.

Since pictures of the eight Indian beaten up at Mügeln were flashed around the world, other racist attacks have been reported, revealing a drift to the violent right among those youths that see themselves as left out of Germany's once-again rising prosperity.

"Studies show that xenophobia, anti-Semitism and contempt for the person are on the rise," the Berliner Zeitung commented Tuesday.

All mainstream politicians abhor the NPD (German National Democratic Party), which garnered only 1.6 per cent of the vote in the 2005 parliamentary elections and thus is excluded from the national parliament, although it has seats in the parliaments of two eastern states.

"I believe that even those skeptical (of a renewed banning attempt) regard the NPD as unconstitutional," SPD home affairs parliamentary spokesman Dieter Wiefelspütz told reporters Tuesday.

SPD seemingly ignoring previous failed attempt

But securing a ban under Germany's democratic constitution -- which strenuously guards freedom of speech -- is another matter.

Wolfgang Bosbach, deputy head of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic (CDU/CSU) parliamentary caucus, believes that parliament faces "another gigantic embarrassment" if it tries again.

The main problem lies in the numerous undercover agents operating within the NPD to monitor its activities.

The activities of these agents -- one of them reached the top of the hierarchy and is said to have authored an anti-Semitic pamphlet -- led the Constitutional Court to throw the case out in the preliminary stages four years ago.

"It was one of the bitterest defeats that the politicians have ever been handed by Karlsruhe -- and it was their own fault," the Berliner Zeitung commented.

Lengthy process could endanger police operations

One person well placed to know about the undercover agents, CDU Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaüble, warns of "great procedural risk."

The legal process leading up to a Constitutional Court ruling could take years, experts warn.

Police and the special authority charged with the protection of the constitution are reported to be aghast at the prospect of having to withdraw their undercover agents for as long as this.

But Wiefelspütz is adamant that parliament should try again. "I call on all parties to engage in a debate over how this can be achieved," he says.

Case to ban NPD "doomed to failure" say Greens

The SPD, currently the junior partner in Merkel's grand coalition, finds itself alone on this issue, with even their former partner in government, the Greens, opposed.

The problem of rightwing extremism will not be resolved by a legal process that is in any case doomed to failure, the party warns.

"Their members would still be there and would look for new organizational structures. Much more important are initiatives in civil society against the dissemination of rightwing ideology," Greens parliamentary spokesman Volker Beck says.

Instead, the party blames Merkel's government for fiscal cutbacks that have helped return the budget to balance but have closed down many social programs.

"The federal government has to demonstrate that it can do something else besides push through cuts," Beck says.