German political party
The Party of Humanists (German: Partei der Humanisten) is a minor political party in Germany that first participated in the 2017 federal election.[1]
Party platform
The underlying ideology is evolutionary humanism.[2] The core themes of the Humanist Party are science and education, the right of self-determination of the individual, and secularization.[3] For example, the party supports the liberal and self-responsible use of drugs,[4] supports legal voluntary euthanasia[5][6] and is against circumcision of children.[7] The party also supports the implementation of universal basic income.[3]
Currently, the Party of Humanists is the only party in Germany that specifically targets non-religious people, freethinkers, and atheists as voters.[8]
Programme
Health and science
- Compulsory health insurance should only cover evidence based medicine, not pseudomedicine such as homeopathy
- Legalization of active euthanasia under specific circumstances
- Legalization of all drugs, but only for adults and with more prevention measures such as education, drug-checking, regulated production and sale[9]
- Openness towards new technology and impartial assessment of the harms benefits, e. g. with respect to genome editing[10] and stem cell research
- Reduction of antibiotic use in livestock farming in order to avoid emerging resistances
- Funding for in-vitro-meat research
EU and military
- Founding of a united European Federal Republic. Today's national states shall be converted into strong sovereign regions.[11]
- Rejection of a compulsory military service year for young adults
- Establishing a united European military
Economy
- Simplification of the tax system by eliminating exemptions as well as cutback on unnecessary subsidies
- Deregulation of shop opening hours on Sundays
- Trialing and implementation of universal basic income
Climate
Social topics
Freedom of speech and the Internet
Religion
- Complete separation of church and state
- Introduction of unified ethics education instead of compulsory religious education in schools[12]
- Removing references to god from the constitution and other laws
- Prohibition of medically not-indicated religious circumcision in children unable to consent
History
The party emerged from a Facebook group called "Initiative Humanismus" with over 700 members. One year after the decision to establish a party, the Party of Humanists was founded on 4 October 2014 in Berlin.[13][14] On 21 March 2017, the Party held a joint press conference along with the Pirate Party Germany, the Liberal Democrats, the New Liberals, the Transhuman Party Germany, and the youth organization of The Left to announce a "socialliberale proclamation" and better cooperation among the participating organizations.[15][16][17][18][19]
Leadership
The current federal executive committee of the Party of Humanists consists of eleven members:[20]
- Lasse Schäfer (Party Leader)
- Dominic Ressel (General Secretary)
- Stephan Wiedenmann (Treasurer)
- Axel Börold
- Ole Teschke
- Sascha Klughardt
- Andreas Stirner
- Josephine Keller
- Felicitas Klings
- Jochen Sieck
- Maximilian Pindl
- Ricardo Reitz
Political parties in Germany
2,300
