AfD’s Petry quits party a day after its historic win
Frauke Petry, the co-leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), is leaving the party, two days after a national election made it the third-largest group in parliament, media reported, in a major blow to the party’s credibility.
Several senior AfD members had urged Petry, the highest-profile figure in the AfD’s more moderate wing, to quit the party after she shocked them on Monday by saying she would not sit with the AfD in the Bundestag.
“It’s clear that this step will follow,” Ms Petry was cited as saying in the eastern city of Dresden by several German media, including Spiegel Online and newspaper websites. She did not say when she would quit, they said. Her spokesman could not immediately confirm the reports.
The anti-immigrant AfD won 12.6 per cent of the vote in Germany’s election on Sunday, becoming the first far-right group to win seats in the Bundestag since the 1950s. But Ms Petry has clashed with other senior members, arguing for the party to take a more moderate course.
Ms Petry, a 42-year-old chemist, was the most recognisable face of AfD during its swift rise. But she said on Monday she could not stand with an “anarchistic party” that lacked a credible plan to govern, and would sit in Parliament as an independent.
For months, Ms Petry has urged the AfD to soften its stance and prepare to join coalition governments, while others wanted the party to stick to Opposition.