The Burn Bag Newsletter: March 9th
Democratic Paradox in Germany, a Pope in Iraq, and Protests in Senegal.
Welcome to The Burn Bag Newsletter. This week, a developing paradox of political freedom and extremism in Germany could embolden far-right groups around the world, the Pope visits holy land, and West Africa’s strongest democracy tests its mettle.
Democracy
Stress Testing Germany’s Approach to Extremism
Last week, in an ironic victory for democracy, a German court ordered the country’s domestic intelligence service to cease surveillance of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), a major political party recently designated an extremist threat to the German constitutional system.
Days earlier, it was revealed that the Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz (BfV), literally translating to the “Federal Agency for the Protection of the Constitution,” had sought and received secret approval to monitor the AfD under suspicion of anti-democratic intent. When that surveillance was made public, a court in Cologne issued a temporary injunction citing AfD’s right to equal opportunity under the law – now potentially compromised by the reveal of the investigation – while the case is resolved.
The legal framework that supports the German government’s authority to monitor and even disband democratically-supported political parties is complicated.
Written in the wake of the Third Reich, the German constitution goes to great lengths to prevent forces of extremism from ever again dismantling the country’s democratic system, including allowing surveillance of individuals or organizations suspected of anti-democratic activity. In this case, AfD party members stand accused of infractions ranging from the vile – dehumanizing statements regarding Muslims and immigrants, in violation of Article 1 of the German constitution which holds human dignity as “unassailable” – to the violent, including inspiring a far-right, xenophobic massacre of eleven people in 2020.
At the same time, as expected in a liberal democracy, the German constitution also includes strong civil protections against wanton surveillance or undue repression by the state. Now, like an anti-authoritarian snake eating its own tail, Germany’s constitutional protections of both civilian and state will compete to determine the fate of the most legitimate far-right party in the country’s postwar history.
In the past, the German Federal Constitutional Court has rejected petitions to disband extremist parties on the grounds of illegitimacy. In 2017, the court denied the dissolution of the neo-Nazi National Democratic Party as, even though it “disrespected the democratic order,” it seemed entirely impossible it would “[achieve] its aims by parliamentary or extra-parliamentary democratic means.” The AfD, however, has become the leading right-wing opposition party in Germany, with 12% of seats in parliament (88 of 709), and the courts could find that anti-democratic activity by its members poses a genuine threat to their political system.
In the meantime, the AfD has claimed the injunction against the German intelligence service as a victory. While the suspension may not last – particularly considering the BfV has been building a case against the AfD since 2019, and since it successfully caused the farthest-right wing of the AfD, Flügel, to disband last year – the legal victory for the party only serves to bolster a future argument of political persecution in the face of a potential government decree to dissolve.
While Germany’s history with extremism can hardly count any other Western democracy among its equal, the country’s legal battle between its institutional far-right and its government demonstrates the potential failures of even the most stringent measures to combat political extremism.
Similar questions surrounding the extent of extremist or seditionist intent will continue to roil other democracies previously considered immune to domestic political extremism, including the United States, where “insurrection” continues to be a partisan moniker for the actions of the January 6th rioters. At worst, the German government risks legal vindicating the AfD and emboldening rising far-right parties across Europe, burgeoning extremist groups in the United States, and entrenched right-wing autocracies around the world.
The Regional Readout
Africa
Protests in Senegal Spell Trouble for West Africa’s Strongest Democracy
Protests continued across Senegal this week after leading opposition politician Ousmane Sonko was arrested last Wednesday. The deadly protests, sparked initially by Sonko’s arrest while en route to court to address a separate accusation of rape, are as much a reflection of the country’s poor economic conditions as they are a response to what many consider to be a movement by President Macky Sall’s government toward autocracy.
Senegal, a country that has largely succeeded in avoiding the authoritarian tendencies that have gripped its regional neighbors, is considered to be West Africa’s strongest democracy. Nevertheless, Sonko, likely a strong contender in the 2024 presidential elections, is the third high-profile Senegalese politician to be arrested during Sall’s tenure as president. Sall’s pattern of jailing political opponents has alarmed democratic advocates in Senegal and abroad.
At the same time, the protests threaten the progress made toward combatting sexual violence in Senegal over the last few years. Until last year, Senegal did not punish rape as a serious crime, and activists worry that public acceptance of Sonko’s claim that political persecution is behind the accusation of rape against him could make it more difficult for survivors of sexual assault to speak out.
To learn more, check out:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-senegal-politics-sonko-unrest-idUSKBN2B01ET
Middle East
The Pope Visits Iraq
Over the weekend, despite security risks surrounding the coronavirus and a recent increase in violent attacks, Pope Francis visited Iraq. In the first ever papal visit to the country, the Pope highlighted the Christian-Muslim relationship, including meeting with Iraq’s top Shiite Muslim cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, and visiting regions of the country previously decimated by the Islamic State, including Mosul, the group’s former stronghold. His trip to territory formerly controlled by IS was particularly poignant considering the human rights abuses suffered by Iraqi Christians at the hands of IS militants.
In contrast to the violent intolerance promoted by the Islamic State, as the Pope toured the country, he touted a message of religious interdependence among Christians, Jews, and Muslims. President Biden, only the second Catholic president of the United States, celebrated the trip as “a symbol of hope for the entire world.”
To learn more, check out:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/03/08/pope-francis-iraq-visit-symbolic-power/
The world is a big place and we can’t cover it all. What did we miss? Let us know what you’re interested in reading more about at burnbagpodcast@gmail.com or in the comments below.
Finally, make sure to check out this week’s episode of The Burn Bag Podcast with Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin (D-MI).
Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts.
On this week’s episode, co-hosts A’ndre and Ryan speak about the events at the Capitol on January 6th with Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin. As the representative from Michigan’s 8th District, Congresswoman Slotkin discusses her role in working with the Biden administration to combat and deal with domestic terrorism and violence. During this episode, she addresses various topics such as Iran, the Department of Defense, and the 1st Amendment in relation to domestic threats. Congresswoman Slotkin then delves into the future of the Democratic Party’s foreign policy platform.
On the events of January 6th:
“I think of January 6th as the end of the post 9/11 era, and the beginning of the new era where the division between us as Americans is a greater threat to our security than foreign terrorism, as it has been for the past 20 years.”