YCL-LJC Central Executive Committee, July 12, 2021

The Deutsche Kommunistische Partei (German Communist Party, DKP) announced on Thursday that they may be barred from participating in the upcoming Bundestag election in Germany, with the Federal Returning Officer citing a delay in submitting annual reports as the cause for the ban. As Germany suffers under the rise of the right and its greatest economic downturn since the establishment of the current state, this ban would prevent an essential progressive voice from fighting for peace and disarmament, increased social services and economic equality, and more rights for young workers and students in the Bundestag.

Both the DKP and its youth league, the SDAJ, are two of the strongest voices in Germany fighting for genuine democracy and against imperialism, as well as for improving youth-centred infrastructure like social housing, jobs, schools, daycares, youth centres, public transport, hospitals, and universities — to put it simply, this “cold ban” is undemocratic and serves only to silence the voices of young people and the working class.

This is, of course, nothing new. In Germany — a country which still prohibits the display of symbols relating to the Communist Party of Germany — there is a long history of the suppression of communists, both under the Nazi government and its successor state, the BRD. More recently, the long-surveilled communist youth magazine Junge Welt has been under threat, being classified as “extremist” and “unconstitutional”, with further threats to stop wider distribution and funding. Other progressive groups have also faced similar threats of economic deprival and attempts to halt them from organizing. Elsewhere in Europe, communist youth leagues have faced suppression, like the Komunistický svaz mládeže (KSM) which was undemocratically outlawed by the Czech government in 2006. In Serbia, the New Communist Party of Yugoslavia was forcibly deregistered as a political party in 2014, and attempts to re-register since have been blocked. Even closer to home, the Communist Party of Canada has faced similar threats from the Canadian government, who attempted to outlaw the Party in 1993 by making drastic changes to the Elections Act. 

This attack against the DKP is part of a larger wave of recent attacks against progressive-minded people in Germany and wider Europe. Over the past couple of decades, the continent has seen an increase in far-right nationalist rhetoric, especially from parties like Germany’s AfD, the Orbán government in Hungary, Britain’s Boris Johnson government, Austria’s FPÖ, Marine Le Pen and her Rassemblement national in France, Poland’s United Right alliance, the EU’s Alliance for Peace and Freedom or its Identity and Democracy bloc, and other significant groups. At a time when these parties are gaining in popularity, and fascist parties are organizing more support, it is crucial for progressive and justice-minded parties to contend both on the streets and in electoral capacities.

Although under the guise of bureaucracy and Election Act rules, it is clear that the ban on the DKP from participating in German elections is part of a larger coordinated attack against communists in Germany. We stand in solidarity with both the Deutsche Kommunistische Partei and the progressive-minded young people of Junge Welt, and support them in their appeals against anti-communist legislation. We echo the calls by WFDY, the DKP, the SDAJ, and the Communist Party of Canada for all democratic forces to speak out against this “cold ban”.