The nationalist Alternative for Germany was hit by party infighting on Monday, just hours after winning its first seats in Parliament, with its co-chief Frauke Petry declaring that she won’t join its Bundestag group.
Citing “dissent” with more hardline colleagues, Ms. Petry dropped her bombshell at a morning party press conference, catching other key AfD figures by surprise as she abruptly left the room.
The spectacle played out before the media put the spotlight on the tug-of-war within the party between radical and more moderate forces at the top, and raised questions on how far right it planned to position itself.
Although its beginnings as an anti-euro party were rooted in populism, the AfD’s rhetoric veered further right in the run-up to Sunday’s elections.
Outraged mainstream politicians have heaped on criticism, including Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel who had labelled leaders of the party “real Nazis”.
Differences on issues
But even Ms. Petry herself had openly criticised one of her party’s two key candidates Alexander Gauland over his claim that Germany should be proud of its war veterans, saying that would lead voters to shun the party.
On Monday, seated next to Mr. Gauland, she declared that “there is dissent in the AfD over the issues”.
“I decided after careful reflection that I will not sit with the (AfD) parliamentary group” in the Bundestag, said Ms. Petry who added she will serve as an independent MP.
Hours later, four AfD local MPs said they were leaving party ranks and forming their own group in the state Parliament of Mecklenburg-Pomerania.
Alice Weidel, another top AfD candidate in the election, revealed that Ms. Petry had not spoken to either her or Mr. Gauland “for months” even though the duo were the leading faces of the AfD’s campaign.
