BERLIN (AP) — A new German party founded by the man who once dominated the nationalist Alternative for Germany has decided against running candidates in the national election after failing to make an impact with voters.
The Liberal-Conservative Reformers party emerged from the split in 2015 of Alternative for Germany, or AfD, after Frauke Petry beat Bernd Lucke to take the latter's leadership.
Economics professor Lucke dominated the early profile of AfD. Under new leadership, the party increasingly focused on opposition to migration and Islam.
Lucke's new party failed to attract significant support, though it has five of the seven European Parliament lawmakers originally elected for AfD. News agency dpa reported that a regional leader, Detlef de Raad, said at a congress Saturday the party decided against participating in the Sept. 24 election.