Recently, the returning officer in Germany has told the DKP (Deutsche Kommunistische Partei or the German Communist Party) that they will not be registered as a political party for the upcoming elections and may be de-listed as a party entirely. 

The ostensive reason for this exclusion was the tardiness of an application by the DKP. However, the circumstances must be seen in light of a number of anti-democratic moves by the German State in recent times against communists. This includes threats by the state to revoke status of the VVN-BdA anti-fascist organisation and the daily newspaper Junge Welt as well as police action attempting to keep the youth organization FDJ (Freie Deutsche Jugend) from flying their flag on a public march.

These actions will have a chilling effect on democracy and threaten the ability to peacefully organise for socialism. All organisations who claim to hold importance in democracy should join the Workers’ Party in condemning these actions.