George Read is seen unveiling the Alberta Greens' platform in February. (CBC)

The Alberta Greens are trying to sort out a power struggle that has resulted in two men claiming to be leader of the provincial party.

The party adjourned its annual general meeting in the central Alberta town of Morningside Saturday after an apparent attempt to take over the party, according to George Read, who has been party leader for five years.

"I believe that there was an attempt to hijack the Alberta Greens, to take over the party, change the name, change the leadership, change the values and to start a brand new party on the carcass of the old," Read said Monday.

Read said he got an e-mail Friday advising him there would be an attempt to take over the party. When he arrived at the meeting, he said, there were about 150 cars in the parking lot and many people trying to buy party memberships.

Joe Anglin takes his message to a high school in Lacombe during campaigning in February. (CBC)

The executive was worried about a stacked meeting, so it adjourned the meeting, Read told CBC News.

But Joe Anglin, a vocal activist against a proposed power line and a star candidate for the party in Lacombe-Ponoka in the March provincial election, said party members at the meeting voted to make him the new interim leader.

Anglin said the meeting, attended by 120 people, fulfilled the requirements of the party's constitution. He said the executive did not have the power to adjourn the meeting.

"There wasn't any hostile takeover. What we would like to see — and I think this is going to be easily resolved — what everybody wants to see is a transparent and a fair process to conduct a leadership race," he said.

Read said the Greens have fixed leadership election dates, so Anglin and anyone else interested in the party's top job will have to wait until the fall of 2009.

In the March 2008 provincial election, the Alberta Greens did not win any seats and won 4.58 per cent of the popular vote.