Prominent German nationalist to leave anti-immigrant AfD party

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Frauke Petry (C), leader of the German right-wing populist 'Alternative for Germany' (AfD) party, leaves a news conference during which she announced that she will be not be part of the party's parliamentary group in Berlin. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 1:06am, 27 Sep 2017Updated: 1:06am, 27 Sep 2017

One of the most prominent figures in the nationalist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party said on Tuesday she plans to leave it – a move that displayed tensions as other lawmakers from the anti-migrant party gathered for their first meeting after a strong showing at the polls.

Alternative for Germany, or AfD, won 12.6 per cent of the vote in Sunday’s election to win seats in the national parliament for the first time. Frauke Petry, its cochairwoman since 2015, announced Monday that she would not join its parliamentary group and other leaders urged her to leave the party altogether.

“It is clear that this step will follow,” Petry said on Tuesday in the eastern city of Dresden, the DPA news agency reported.

Petry’s husband, Marcus Pretzell, the party leader in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia and a regional lawmaker there, added that he is also leaving AfD.

Frauke Petry, leadership member of Germany's hard-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, gives a press conference in Dresden, Germany, where she announced that she will leave her party. Photo: DPA/AFP

AfD won 94 of the 709 seats in the new German parliament, including Petry’s. It was not immediately clear whether any others would follow Petry, who moved AfD’s focus from opposing euro zone bailouts to migration after she took over in 2015 but has been increasingly sidelined in recent months.