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. The decision of who will be lead candidate will also be determined. 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. Most recently, an AfD leader from Thuringia caused controversy when he harshly criticized the way Germany reflects on its Nazi past. According to Tagesspiegel, economically liberal Alice Weidel could now be an alternative lead candidate to Petry.

Source: The Local April 19, 2017 13:18 UTC