Over 1.6 million people signed a petition to remove some of the rights of far-right extremist politician Bjorn Hocke in Germany on Tuesday.
Hocke, who leads the Alternative for Germany (AfD) in the eastern state of Thuringia, has been designated as a known far-right extremist by Germany's domestic security agency.
The petition calls on Germany's Constitutional Court to strip Hocke of his right to vote and stand for elected office under Article 18 of Germany's constitution, which holds such rights can be forfeited by extremists if "misused to fight against the free democratic basic order."
However, the Constitutional Court can only consider doing so at the request of Germany's parliament, the Bundestag. Petition organizers plan to hand over the list of signatories to senior Green Party lawmaker Britta Baßelmann on Thursday.
The petition drive began more than two months ago but gained considerable momentum following revelations of a secret meeting in November between AfD officials and far-right extremists, including a well-known Austrian white supremacist.
Those at the meeting reportedly discussed efforts to force asylum seekers and immigrants, including some with German citizenship, out of the country.
The revelations helped prompt weeks of large nationwide protests against the AfD and other far-right groups.
Participants at the November meeting have confirmed that they spoke about "remigration," a euphemism frequently used on the far-right to describe a goal of getting people of foreign origin to leave the country, including by force if necessary.
The AfD's state branch in Thuringia, which Höcke leads, is considered particularly extreme in its far-right views. But the party also currently leads in the polls ahead of state parliamentary elections scheduled for September.
AfD lawmakers in Thuringia's parliament on Tuesday called for debate for starting "remigration" from Thuringia "instead of demonizing" the concept.
"While the public debate is descending into a hysterical reinterpretation of the term, the need for effective remigration measures is becoming clearer every week in Thuringia," AfD lawmakers wrote.
