THE German Communist Party (DKP) vowed today to challenge a ban on it standing candidates in September’s federal elections for the first time since the DKP was founded in 1968.

Party chairman Patrik Kobele believes that the decision by Germany’s Federal Election Committee, which decides which minor parties can contest national polls, was politically motivated.

“We are convinced that this attempt to ban us [from the election] will fail,” he said, confirming that the DKP was preparing a legal challenge.

In 2017, the DKP won some 11,500 votes, far short of the total required to gain a seat in the Bundestag.

The Federal Election Commissioner Georg Thiel said the party had been excluded from the election for failing to submit the required paperwork on time.

“Deadlines are deadlines,” he said.

The Anarchistic Pogo Party of Germany, who promised free beer to voters, was also excluded on administrative grounds after it only filed its papers electronically.

Communist Party of Britain general secretary Rob Griffiths sent a message of solidarity to the DKP, paying tribute to its courage in speaking out against “the increasing militarisation of the EU and its interlock with Nato.

“The ban constitutes a blow to the democratic freedom of all Germans and a blow to the whole international communist movement worldwide.  It must be condemned by all who value democracy,” Mr Griffiths said.