AfD top candidates and new elected faction leaders Alexander Gauland,right, and Alice Weidel, left, brief the media after the first faction meeting of the Alternative for Germany, AfD, at the parliament Bundestag in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2017. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
September 27, 2017 - 2:41 AM
BERLIN - Leaders of the nationalist and anti-migrant Alternative for Germany say they're not concerned that its newly-departed figurehead Frauke Petry might form a new party.
The party's co-chairwoman since 2015 abruptly left Alternative for Germany, or AfD, after Sunday's election in which it won 12.6 per cent of the vote.
Petry cited months of in-fighting among its leadership, saying AfD wasn't in a position to push for the political change she thought the country needed. She's intimated she might form another party, but hasn't made any announcement.
AfD co-leader Alice Weidel told reporters in Berlin on Wednesday "there's utterly no concern" that Petry may draw support away.
Appearing with co-leader Alexander Gauland, she said: "this party, should she even found one, would be doomed to failure."
News from © The Associated Press, 2017