BERLIN (Reuters) - Frauke Petry, co-leader of the Alternative for Germany (AfD), said on Wednesday she would not lead the anti-immigration party’s campaign for a Sept. 24 federal election - a surprising move that could play into the hands of established parties.

FILE PHOTO: Anti-immigration party Alternative for Germany (AfD) chairwoman Frauke Petry delivers her keynote speech at the AfD's election campaign launch for the upcoming North Rhine-Westphalian federal state elections in Essen, Germany April 8, 2017. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay /File Photo

The shock decision by Petry, the face of the AfD, removes her from the very top of a party that has hurt Angela Merkel’s conservatives in regional votes but which may now pose less of a threat to the chancellor’s bid for a fourth term in office.

Petry’s announcement came after she caused controversy by tabling a motion for a congress next weekend in which she said the AfD - which is shunned by other parties - should be ready to join coalitions in future. She said some other senior AfD members like Alexander Gauland, however, wanted it to be a “fundamental” opposition party.

Speaking in a video message posted on her Facebook page, Petry denied suggestions that she had made the proposal with a view to becoming the party’s top candidate.

“In order to put an end to all speculation in this regard, I am using the opportunity of this video message to clearly state that I am neither available for a lone lead candidacy nor for participation in a top team,” she said.

Opinion polls show the AfD winning enough votes to enter the Bundestag lower house of parliament for the first time after September’s election.

But the party has lost about a third of its supporters since late last year, hit by a slowdown in migrant arrivals, AfD infighting and controversy over its attitude to the Nazi past.

Petry said she had decided not to run as it was important for the AfD to discuss issues such as her proposal on the party’s future strategy - which the majority of regional AfD branches oppose - without being hindered by personnel questions.

OTHER PARTIES TO GAIN?

Thomas Jaeger, a political scientist at Cologne University, said it would be hard for anyone else to rival Petry in terms of public profile, forcing whoever takes up the leadership role to take tough positions to get the same attention she has enjoyed.

Petry is a 41-year-old chemist from the former Communist East Germany and is expecting her fifth child.

A far right-wing candidate would probably still manage to lead the AfD into parliament but would deter some voters, said Jaeger.

“All those (parties) who lost some points - and that’s actually all of them - will regain some percentage points, albeit to differing extents,” he said.

The AfD, which rails against Merkel’s decision to allow more than a million migrants into Germany since mid-2015, is due to decide on its election leadership line-up at a weekend gathering in Cologne, where tens of thousands of protesters are expected.

Petry’s camp wants to expel from the party a senior member, Bjoern Hoecke, for calling Berlin’s Holocaust Memorial a “monument of shame” and saying history books should be re-written to focus more on German victims of the Nazis.

Petry managed to secure a two-thirds majority on the party executive board in favor of expelling Hoecke. However, the far-right wing of the AfD supports him and a party arbitration board must now decide his fate.

A Forsa opinion poll published on Wednesday showed the AfD winning eight percent in the election, well above the five percent threshold needed to win seats in the Bundestag. Merkel’s conservatives are seen remaining the largest party bloc.

Germany’s Der Spiegel magazine has reported that Petry’s opponents agreed at a secret meeting last week to form a team around Gauland, a 76-year-old publicist, and 38-year-old economist Alice Weidel - who, like Petry, wants Hoecke ousted.

The AfD could not be reached for comment on the report.</s>BERLIN, April 19 (Reuters) - Frauke Petry, co-leader of the Alternative for Germany (AfD), said on Wednesday she would not lead the anti-immigration party's campaign for a Sept. 24 federal election - a shock announcement from the woman seen as the face of the party.

Opinion polls show the AfD winning enough votes to enter the Bundestag lower house of parliament for the first time. But the AfD has lost about a third of its supporters as migrant arrivals to Germany have eased and the party has also been hit by infighting and controversy over its attitude to the Nazi past.

Petry caused controversy by tabling a motion for a party congress next weekend in which she said the AfD - which is shunned by other parties - should be ready to join coalitions in future. She also said some senior AfD members such as Alexander Gauland wanted it to be a "fundamental" opposition party.

Speaking in a video message posted on her Facebook page, Petry said she had been accused of making the proposal solely to become the party's top candidate despite her not mentioning that idea in her motion.

"In order to put an end to all speculation in this regard, I am using the opportunity of this video message to clearly state that I am neither available for a lone lead candidacy nor for participation in a top team," she said.

The AfD, which rails against Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision to allow more than a million migrants into Germany since mid-2015, is due to decide on its election leadership line-up at its weekend gathering in the western city of Cologne.

Petry's camp wants to expel from the party a senior member, Bjoern Hoecke, for calling Berlin's Holocaust Memorial a "monument of shame" and saying history books should be re-written to focus more on German victims of the Nazis.

Petry, a 41-year-old chemist from the former Communist East Germany, managed to secure a two-thirds majority on the party executive board in favour of expelling Hoecke. The far-right wing of the AfD supports him, however, and a party arbitration board must now decide his fate.

A Forsa opinion poll published on Wednesday showed the AfD winning eight percent in the election, well above the five percent threshold needed to win seats in the Bundestag. Merkel's conservatives are seen emerging as the largest party.

Germany's Der Spiegel magazine has reported that Petry's opponents agreed at a secret meeting last week to form a team around 76-year-old publicist Gauland and 38-year-old economist Alice Weidel - who, like Petry, wants Hoecke ousted. The AfD could not be reached for comment on the report. (Additional reporting by Hans-Edzard Busemann and Paul Carrel; Writing by Michelle Martin; Editing by Madeline Chambers and Gareth Jones)</s>BERLIN: Frauke Petry, leader of the Alternative for Germany (AfD), said on Wednesday she would not lead the anti-immigration party's campaign ahead of a Sept. 24 federal election.

"In order to put an end to all speculation in this regard, I am using the opportunity of this video message to clearly state that I am neither available for a lone lead candidacy nor for participation in a top team," she said on Facebook.

The AfD is holding a party congress at the weekend to decide on its leadership line-up for the election, at which the party is expected to win sufficient support to enter the Bundestag lower house of parliament for the first time.</s>MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Frauke Petry, the leader of the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, said Wednesday she did not want to be its sole lead candidate for chancellorship in this September’s general election.

"I am not available either as a sole frontrunner or a member of a lead [campaign] team," she said in a video address on Facebook.

Petry refuted accusations of allowing a split inside the party that created two rival camps with competing strategies ahead of this weekend’s party conference in Cologne, and insisted the AfD needed to map out a joint strategy.

"It is important that we are able to discuss urgent issues, such as our [election] bid, which will determine AfD’s future in the coming months and years, without having to deal with alleged or real personnel problems," she said.

Germans are expected to vote on September 24 in a general election that will elect a new government and chancellor. This will be the second federal election for the populist AfD, founded in 2013, which is expected to win seats this time.</s>BERLIN, April 20 (Reuters) - Germany's Central Council of Muslims said on Thursday that the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) was on a path to becoming a more radical, anti-Islamic party without co-chief Frauke Petry leading it into September's national election.

Petry had become the face of the anti-immigration party, which hurt Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives during the migrant crisis but has leaked support this year. After a months-long power struggle, she announced on Wednesday she would not lead the party's national election campaign.

The shock move was widely seen as an admission of defeat, even though she stays on as the party's joint leader. In a test of how much influence she still wields, Petry will this weekend try and push through a motion at a party congress aimed at making the AfD able to join coalitions in the future.

Her rivals, she has said, want the AfD to be a "fundamental opposition" party.

"While Petry was always ready to have a critical dialogue with the Central Council of Muslims, other forces in the party leadership completely refused," said Aiman Mazyek, head of Germany's Central Council of Muslims.

Mazyek told the Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung daily the AfD was "soaking up" the far-right National Democratic Party (NPD), which Germany's Constitutional Court earlier this year said pursued Nazi ideals.

The AfD last year endorsed an election manifesto that says Islam is not compatible with Germany's constitution. Mainstream parties have ruled out the AfD as a possible coalition partner.

Ahead of September's federal election, Petry had sought to make the party more palatable to mainstream voters and her decision not to lead the party's campaign could play into the hands of established parties.

Simone Peter, a leading member of the Green party, told the Rheinische Post newspaper that with Petry's decision, the AfD was "skinning itself".

"The party's extreme right wing views ... are coming increasingly to the fore," Peter said.

Petry's critics say it was she who was responsible for pulling the party to the right with incendiary rhetoric such as demanding police be allowed to shoot illegal migrants.

The energetic East German ousted party founder Bernd Lucke as leader in 2015. She swiftly embraced immigration as the party's cause-celebre rather than euro-scepticism.

She soon made enemies within the party, though, who criticised her for a high-handed leadership style.

In the past six months, support from the party has fallen to between 8 and 11 percent in polls from about 13 percent.

Political commentator Albrecht von Lucke said the party's congress this weekend in Cologne, where police are bracing for up to 50,000 anti-AfD demonstrators, would be a showdown between Petry and her party rivals.

"The crucial thing is whether the party dismembers itself on Sunday," said von Lucke. He added that if Petry failed to pass her motion she would risk being a "queen without a country".

"If she goes, then we'll see whether the rest of the party can survive," he said, adding the party may even jeopardise the 5 percent popular support needed to enter the lower house of parliament.

Petry's co-leader, Joerg Meuthen, told Focus magazine he favoured a group including Petry's arch rival Alexander Gauland leading the party into the Sept. 24 vote. (Reporting by Madeline Chambers; editing by Richard Lough)</s>BERLIN — The best-known figure in the nationalist Alternative for Germany says that she won't be its top candidate in September's German election — a decision that appears to reflect growing opposition among other leading members of the party.

Frauke Petry ousted co-founder Bernd Lucke, an economics professor, to become the party's chairwoman in 2015. Opposition to immigration and Islam have taken stage in the party's platform since then.

But the party also has become increasingly mired in infighting between Petry, her husband Marcus Pretzell and other senior figures.

Petry said in a video message posted Wednesday on Facebook that she won't lead the party's election campaign, either alone or as part of a team.</s>The AfD’s Frauke Petry announced via Facebook video on Wednesday that she will not be running as the party's lead candidate in September's national election.

Petry said in a video posted to her official Facebook page on Wednesday that she will not be leading her party as a candidate in September’s national election.

She further spoke of internal tensions within the party, and said that it will be important for the AfD to decide on its future strategy at its party conference in Cologne this coming weekend. The decision of who will be lead candidate will also be determined.

There had already been speculation about Petry's intent to lead the party, especially after she gave an interview to Tagesspiegel last month, saying that "neither politics not the AfD are things that I can't do without".

The party is hoping to win German parliament seats for the first time this year since it was founded in 2013 - and that year failed to make it past the five percent threshold of votes to make it into the Bundestag.

Currently polling at around 10 percent, the party looks likely to do just that, with some members of the party predicting that they could become the country's third largest party.

Founded originally as a eurosceptic party, the AfD has veered more to the right in recent years, using anti-immigrant rhetoric to draw support from those displeased by Germany's liberal refugee policies. It won double-digit percentages in all five state parliament elections last year, though it just eked into the Saarland state parliament this year with about 6 percent of the vote.

The party voted in 2015 to ditch one of its co-founders, Bernd Lucke, and select Petry as its leader instead.

But internal disputes have threatened to tear the party apart in the past.

Petry said in the video that the party has struggled to find a common strategy since 2015. Most recently, an AfD leader from Thuringia caused controversy when he harshly criticized the way Germany reflects on its Nazi past. Petry has sought to oust the politician from the party, but this has not been supported by all members.

"The external image of the AfD continues to be characterized by the uncoordinated, maximum provocations of a few representatives - which were totally surprising to the party leaders," Petry said in the video.

She went on to say that some of their voters had been scared off by these incidents, which in turn contributed to the party losing support.

According to Tagesspiegel, economically liberal Alice Weidel could now be an alternative lead candidate to Petry.</s>Police in Cologne. The city is to deploy some 4,000 officers for the AfD conference. Photo: DPA.

The Cathedral City of Cologne is ramping up security ahead of the far-right AfD's party conference at the weekend, including around 4,000 police officers and a four-day no-fly zone over the city centre.

Police and German aviation security officials announced that the no-fly zone will be in place from Thursday until Monday, while the party conference is set to take place on Saturday and Sunday.

More than 4,000 officers will also be deployed for the occasion, according to local newspaper Rheinische Post.

Part of the security concern is that officials expect some 50,000 protesters - including left-wing extremists - to descend upon the city to counter the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), with organizers calling for participants to “block” the party conference at a central hotel as a form of “civil disobedience”.

The no-fly zone will apply to almost all flights, including model airplanes and unmanned aviation devices. The only exceptions made will be for German military and police aircraft, as well as for any rescue or emergency aircraft. The ban also excludes flights following aviation regulations that are going exclusively to and from Cologne-Bonn airport, or to and from Nörvenich, where these is an air base.

Police posted an image on Facebook displaying the no-fly zone's boundaries.

Those who violate the ban will be charged under German aviation law for an offense punishable by up to two years in jail, or a fine.

The far-right party’s conference will also be a test of the AfD’s strength as it has struggled with a bitter power struggle which threatens to scupper its bid to win its first seats in the Bundestag (German parliament) in September.

Once riding high in the wake of Germany's record refugee influx, the upstart party has seen its support plunge into single digits in most polls from around 15 percent half a year ago amid open hostilities between populists and radicals.

In just a taste of the drama expected at the weekend, AfD co-leader Frauke Petry made the bombshell announcement on Wednesday that she would not stand to become the party's official standard bearer heading into the September 24th general election, as she demanded its rival factions adopt a common strategy.

"The image of the AfD keeps getting determined by the uncoordinated extreme provocations of a few representatives who keep surprising the party leadership," she said in a video message on Facebook.

The telegenic public face of the AfD, Petry has become embroiled in infighting as she attempts to cast herself as the moderate, "middle-class" alternative to officials whose outbursts have sparked national outrage for perceived antisemitism and racism.

In Cologne Petry will ask delegates to reject a "strategy of fundamental opposition" to the parties in power and adopt her own pragmatic "Realpolitik" which she argues will attract mainstream voters with the goal of taking the reins of government by 2021.

Petry's decision not to stand as the party's main candidate for the general election - a largely symbolic role - was widely seen as an attempt to avoid an embarrassing showdown at the congress.

"Shortly before their party congress, the AfD is the picture of strife," national daily Süddeutsche Zeitung said.

"That reflects the essence of a party that would like to present itself as middle class but has a method of breaking taboos, provoking and spurning civility."

The AfD has become Germany's most successful right-wing populist party of the post-war period.

Unlike far-right candidate Marine Le Pen in France, its leaders have no foreseeable chance of winning the general election in Germany, where Chancellor Angela Merkel is seeking a fourth term after nearly 12 years in power.

But while all mainstream parties have ruled out working with the AfD, it could clinch enough votes to complicate the post-election maths of forming a ruling coalition.

The AfD was founded as an anti-euro party in 2013, but failed in that year's general election to cross the five-percent hurdle to representation.

Seizing on popular anxiety over the influx of more than one million refugees and migrants since 2015, however, it managed to capture seats in 11 of Germany's 16 regional legislatures.

Following the victories of the Brexit campaign and Donald Trump on waves of anti-establishment sentiment, analysts predicted the AfD would easily enter the national parliament.

But Petry's rise made her both a media star and a red rag for envious party colleagues.

"She is a clever as quicksilver but she's not popular among the delegates because of her blind ambition," Hajo Funke, political scientist at Berlin's Free University, told AFP.

Petry, 41, who is pregnant with her fifth child, has allied herself with hard-right leaders such as Le Pen and Geert Wilders of the Dutch anti-Islam Freedom Party.

But the AfD has lost momentum as the number of new refugee arrivals to Germany has dwindled over the last several months.

The Social Democrats (SPD), junior partners in Merkel's governing coalition, have also managed to claw back some support since appointing a new Merkel challenger, former European Parliament president Martin Schulz.

Schulz has been cast as a maverick in the media and by his party, allowing him to attract voters disenchanted by the Merkel era and squeeze out the AfD's protest-party message.

Funke said Trump's presidency, looming Brexit and the threat to Europe posed by Le Pen have served as a wake-up call for German voters, who may be losing their appetite for radical change.

"The AfD would be fatal for German identity with its strong links to Europe and the country's status as an export nation. That will become even clearer as the election approaches."

With reporting and writing by Deborah Cole, AFP.</s>Beleaguered AIADMK (Amma) Deputy General Secretary T T V Dhinakaran today said none in the party were against him, asserting that all party MLAs stood behind him.

“There is no opposition to me in the party,” he said, breaking his silence since influential section of Ministers revolted against him last night and decided to keep General Secretary V K Sasikala and him out of the party.

According to ‘Jaya Plus’ Tamil TV channel, Dhinakaran said a “good decision” will be taken in the interest of the party.

Party sources indicated that he was expected to appear at the Economic Offences court here later in the day on a case against him for alleged violation of FERA regulations.

Dhinakaran has called a meeting of party MLAs and District Secretaries at 3 pm today.

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Alternative for Germany chairwoman Frauke Petry announces that she will not lead the party in the September federal election, citing other party leaders' insistence on remaining a "fundamental opposition party", unwilling to join a coalition.