Senior politicians in Germany’s ruling parties have voiced anger at the election of a neo-Nazi as mayor of a town in the central state of Hesse.
Stefan Jagsch of the far-right National Democratic Party (NPD) was elected unanimously by seven councillors in Waldsiedlung, near Frankfurt am Main. Mr Jagsch won because no rival stood against him. The small town has about 2,650 residents.
The NPD has survived efforts to ban it, but is seen as “anti-constitutional”.
Local councillors representing Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU), its governing partner the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), and the liberal Free Democrats (FDP) all voted for Mr Jagsch. “The NPD candidate filled the vacuum,” said Markus Brando, the SPD leader in Altenstadt, which encompasses Waldsiedlung.
But senior party members have condemned the move, with CDU leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer calling for the election to be cancelled. Its secretary-general, Paul Ziemiak, said “the election of a member of a party which pursues anti-constitutional goals is a disgrace”.