German AfD party re-elects leaders after election gains, opponents protest

Berlin: The far right Alternative for Germany re elected its leadership duo Saturday after the party made gains in the recent European election, while...

Berlin: The far-right Alternative for Germany re-elected its leadership duo Saturday after the party made gains in the recent European election, while thousands of people protested against its convention and some demonstrators tried to block roads or clashed with police.

Alternative for Germany, or AfD, took 15.9% of the vote to finish second in the European Parliament election on June 9, despite recent scandals and setbacks.

That was lower than its support in surveys at the beginning of the year, but a particularly strong performance in the formerly communist east has bolstered its hopes of emerging as the strongest party in three state elections there in September.

At the regular two-day convention in the western city of Essen, co-leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla were elected unopposed to new two-year terms. They were backed by 79.8% and 82.7% of delegates respectively - a display of harmony by the party's often-argumentative standards.

Weidel vowed to work to "tear down the unspeakable so-called firewalls” that other parties have set up against working with AfD.