The AfD has once again reached the limits of the law.
According to the rules of procedure of the Bundestag, each parliamentary group is represented by at least one vice-president in the executive committee.
But before that – and above that – the constitution set an election.
If an AfD candidate is not elected, this can neither be replaced nor fictitious - not even by the Federal Constitutional Court.
The Vice-Presidents are freely elected by freely elected MPs.
The factions do not have the right to cast members, nor can anyone be obliged to make a specific choice.
Without a doubt, the AfD has a right to equal participation in decision-making in the Bundestag, the parliamentary group has a right to equal treatment and fair voting procedures - but not to a specific result.
You have to get the necessary majority behind you.
If the other factions treat you as a pariah, that is part of the political competition, as long as constitutional limits are not violated.
The rule of law must not be harmed
Of course, the AfD itself has done a lot to ensure that it is viewed as a leper: Anyone who shows that they reject this system cannot hope for much sympathy from the "system parties" and accepts observation by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
This was recently confirmed in court.
Now neither an authority can speak ex cathedra nor can the first instance of the administrative court declare a party unconstitutional.
The AfD may consider all this to be party-politically motivated – but anyone who plays with the fire of hostility to the constitution and makes it their core business also knows that they are caught in the early warning system of a well-fortified democracy.
The AfD does not seem to have done any harm so far.
The main thing is that the free constitutional state is not damaged.
Therefore, the political dispute with the political opponent must be as sharp as the procedural dealings with him fair.
This balancing act works quite well.
Everyone can get an idea.