Co-leader quits Germany’s far-right AfD party

BERLIN: The co-leader of Germany’s anti-immigrant AfD party, Joerg Meuthen, announced on Friday he was quitting the party, accusing it of drifting too far to the right and displaying "totalitarian" leanings.

"The party’s heart beats very far to the right today," the 60-year-old told broadcaster ARD in an interview, saying he had failed to find middle ground with the party’s extremist faction. Meuthen, seen as one of the more moderate voices in the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), already said late last year that he would give up his role as the party’s federal spokesman, following a disappointing election result and bitter internal divisions.

But he has now decided to leave the party altogether. Meuthen, AfD co-leader since 2015, has long been locked in a power struggle with heavyweight party hardliners, including co-leader Tino Chrupalla, parliamentary leader Alice Weidel and the head of the AfD in Thuringia state, Bjoern Hoecke.

"They will be really happy that Meuthen is finally gone," Meuthen told ARD. "They worked on that for a long time." Some in the AfD have become far removed from "the basic order of freedom and democracy", Meuthen went on, and showed "clear totalitarian leanings".