New bid to ban neo-Nazi NPD

BERLIN - Agence France-Presse

German lawmakers launched a new bid Dec. 14 to press the country’s top court to ban the neo-Nazi party, nearly 10 years after an earlier attempt failed.

Lawmakers in the Bundesrat upper house of parliament, which represents the country’s 16 states, unanimously backed a move to petition the Federal Constitutional Court to outlaw the National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD). Just the western state of Hesse abstained in the vote, which came a week after state premiers announced they supported the move despite Chancellor Angela Merkel still having reservations about its chances of success. The Federal Constitutional Court alone holds the power to strike down a political party. But only the federal government, the Bundestag lower house of Parliament, which has also not yet decided on its stance over a new ban bid, and the Bundesrat can apply for such a ban.