A large cross-faction initiative group in the German Bundestag has submitted a motion calling for a ban on the Alternative for Germany (AfD), a major opposition party with more than 80 seats in the national parliament.

The initiators of the motion claim that the right-wing group is at odds with what they call the “central basic principles” of the democratic order and poses a danger to the state, according to local media.

Established in 2013 as an Euroskeptic party, the AfD became known for its anti-immigration rhetoric amid the refugee crisis of 2015. Current and former members have also been involved in various controversies over statements related to Germany’s Nazi past.

Following the start of the conflict between Moscow and Kiev, the party criticized Berlin’s aid to Ukraine and called for the restoration of economic ties with Russia, which were effectively severed as a result of Berlin’s sanctions on Moscow.

AfD co-chair Tino Chrupalla rejected the continued costly support for Ukraine provided by Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government, and urged the return of Russian natural gas to support the struggling German economy.

Other major German parties have mostly shunned the AfD, accusing it of having ties to right-wing extremists and refusing to enter into political coalitions with its members. The party has nevertheless enjoyed growing support from the public over the years, which has been particularly strong in eastern German states.

In September, the AfD won regional parliamentary elections in the state of Thuringia and came in second in two other eastern states – Brandenburg and Saxony.

“We must subject this powerful right-wing extremist party to the review by the Federal Constitutional Court,” the initiative group’s leader, Marco Wanderwitz, told TAZ newspaper on Wednesday. “This is about nothing less than our free democracy,” the MP, who represents the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), said.

The motion was mostly supported by the Greens, which accounted for around half of the 113-strong group, 31 of Scholz’s Social Democratic Party MPs, and 18 out of 28 Left Party lawmakers. Only six other CDU members joined Wanderwitz in the initiative, however.

The motion submitted by the MPs accuses the AfD of questioning the human dignity of migrants and the LGBTQ+ community, and trivializing Nazi crimes as well as serving as an “extended arm of authoritarian foreign regimes.”

One Left Party MP, Martina Renner, who is among the initiators of the motion, openly called the AfD a “Nazi Party,” adding that “more and more colleagues see it as their responsibility to protect democracy” from the danger supposedly posed by the AfD.

The party has not yet commented on the developments. The German domestic security service (BfV) was expected to present a report on the AfD, in which it could potentially change the party’s status to “proven right-wing extremist” organization. The report, however, was postponed due to potential early parliamentary elections that could be held in February.

The BfV already declared it a “suspected” extremist group in 2021. Its regional branches were also designated “right-wing extremist” groups by the authorities in three German states, including Saxony.

The motion submitted on Wednesday would need a simple majority in the 733-member parliament for the Constitutional Court to launch a case against the AfD – the first step towards a potential ban.

According to German media, the future of the initiative is unclear as most CDU MPs, including the party’s leader, Friedrich Merz, as well as the Free Democrats and the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW), oppose it. The CDU has the biggest opposition faction in the parliament, with over 150 MPs. The Free Democrats hold 90 seats and the BSW has ten.

https://www.rt.com/news/607600-german-call-opposition-party-ban/

French prosecutors have asked a judge to slap former National Rally party leader Marine Le Pen with a five-year prison term and a ban from running for public office in an embezzlement case.

Le Pen and 24 other current and former members of the right-wing National Rally are accused of using €3 million ($3.3 million) in European Parliament money intended for payments to parliamentary assistants to fund work on internal party business from 2004 to 2016, in violation of EU law. All of the defendants have denied any wrongdoing.

During the proceedings in Paris on Wednesday, the prosecutors argued that Le Pen should receive the harshest punishment as she was a member of the European Parliament and the leader of the National Rally when some of the alleged violations took place. She led the party, which was previously called the National Front, from 2011 to 2021 and still remains a member.

Three years of Le Pen’s sentence would be suspended, and the other two could be served with an electronic bracelet, the prosecutors said. They also asked for her to be fined €300,000 ($316,000).

The prosecutors said the five-year ban on running for office should be implemented immediately, before the defense can appeal the ruling. This means that if found guilty, Le Pen would be disqualified from the presidential election in 2027. During the trial, which began in late September, she announced plans to run for president for the third time.

"It is clear that the only thing the public prosecutors wanted was Marine Le Pen’s exclusion from political life,” Le Pen told reporters after the hearings.

National Rally leader Jordan Bardella, who is not a defendant in the case, took to X to accuse the prosecutors of an “assault on democracy,” saying they are “seeking to persecute and take revenge on Marine Le Pen.”

The prosecutors also requested that the National Rally be fined €2 million, and that all of the others who are accused receive bans from running for public office from one to five years.

The defense will now present its arguments to the judge until the trial concludes on November 27. A verdict is expected in early 2025.

In the 2022 election, Le Pen lost to President Emmanuel Macron in the second round 58.55% to 41.45%

https://www.rt.com/news/607617-france-le-pen-embezzlement/

The FBI has raided the home of the chief executive and founder of the betting platform Polymarket, Shayne Coplan, seizing his electronic devices, media have reported. The company claims the raid was carried out in retaliation for its users overwhelmingly betting on a Donald Trump victory in the US presidential election.

Federal law enforcement agents reportedly seized the 26-year-old CEO’s phone and computers from his home in New York in an early-morning raid on Wednesday as part of an investigation into the crypto betting platform. Coplan himself was not arrested, Polymarket said.

While no reason for the raid has been declared publicly, some observers suggested the US authorities may be investigating Polymarket for market manipulation or an attempt to influence political polls in favor of Trump.

Polymarket, however, claims the search was “obvious political retribution by the outgoing administration against Polymarket for providing a market that correctly called the 2024 presidential election,” a source close to the matter told the New York Post.

It comes after Polymarket saw $3.7 billion worth of bets placed on the 2024 US presidential election. The offshore crypto gambling website offered odds on Trump that were significantly shorter than those on Vice President Kamala Harris, reflecting a projection that differed sharply from most mainstream polls.

In a post on X, Coplan accused the outgoing administration of US President Joe Biden of seeking a “last-ditch effort to go after companies they deem to be associated with political opponents.”

“We are deeply committed to being non-partisan, and today is no different, but the incumbents should do some self-reflecting and recognize that taking a more pro-business, pro-startup approach may be what would have changed their fate this election,” Coplan wrote on Thursday.

According to media reports, the Department of Justice is investigating Polymarket for allegedly allowing US-based traders to bet on the site. The company is required to block US-based users from making transactions on its platform as part of a 2022 agreement with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

“Polymarket is a fully transparent prediction market that helps everyday people better understand the events that matter most to them, including elections,” the company said.

The platform surged in popularity in the run-up to the election and attracted additional scrutiny after a French trader reportedly made $85 million on massive bets on Trump winning the election.

https://www.rt.com/business/607641-polymarket-ceo-home-fbi-raid/

FROM THE ONSET, THE POLLS WHICH EITHER FAVOURED KAMALA (HARRIS) OR SUGGESTED A TIGHT RACE WERE OFF THE TRACK... BUT WATCHING PUNDITS LIKE GEORGE GALLOWAY SHOULD HAVE GIVEN ANY BETTING PERSON A CLUE ON WHO TO BACK TO MAKE SOME CASH. TRUMP WAS GOING TO WIN TWO TO ONE AND KAMALA (HARRIS) WAS 100 TO ONE....

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