German far-right meets to pick new leaders amid pro-refugee protests
Hanover, Germany, (MILLAT ONLINE):The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) gathered Saturday to vote in new leadership after its triumphant
turnout in September’s general election, as hundreds staged street protests against the anti-migrant party.
The AfD captured nearly 13 percent of the vote and almost 100 seats in parliament — a watershed
moment in post-war German politics that left Chancellor Angela Merkel as the winner but still searching for
a ruling coalition.
However a festering row between radical nationalists and more moderate forces has roiled the
AfD’s top brass, with co-leader Frauke Petry abruptly quitting just days after the election to form her own
breakaway party.
Some 600 delegates at the two-day congress in the northern city of Hanover will vote on a
replacement for her as well as a new board, determining the ideological direction of the party.