A group of 113 German lawmakers from various factions have signed a petition to start procedures to ban the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, public broadcaster ZDF announced today.

Marco Wanderwitz, a conservative lawmaker from the center-right CDU, said their application has been submitted to Bundestag President Barbel Bas. He stressed the urgency of the matter, citing the upcoming new elections as a critical factor in the timing of this action.

The primary objective is to submit and vote on the application during the current legislative period, enabling the Federal Constitutional Court to start proceedings, according to the lawmaker.

However, it remains unclear if or when the application will be officially addressed on the parliamentary agenda.

Under the German Constitution, the Bundestag, the Federal Council (Bundesrat) and the government can apply to the Federal Constitutional Court to ban a party for its unconstitutional aims or anti-democratic behaviour.

In the past, several attempts to ban far-right parties have failed due to legal controversies, a lack of objective evidence or mistakes made in the preparation of the case.

The Federal Constitutional Court rejected a request to ban the far-right NPD party in 2003 on the grounds that some of the party officials used as witnesses were informants for the domestic intelligence agency.

A second attempt to outlaw the NPD also failed in 2017, after federal judges concluded that the party did not have the potential to carry out its unconstitutional or anti-democratic activities.

The AfD has significantly increased its vote share in recent years by campaigning against migration, fueling fears of Muslims and immigrants. The party has also benefited from widespread discontent with Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his coalition government, and fears of an economic downturn.

A poll published by the Forsa Institute on Tuesday found that 17% of Germans plan to vote for the AfD, making it the second strongest party behind the conservative CDU/CSU bloc (33%).

The latest poll showed Scholz's SPD with 16%, while its coalition partner, the Greens, was at 11%. The Free Liberal Democrats (FDP), who left the coalition government last week, were polled with 4%, falling short of the 5% threshold required to enter parliament. /AA