Neo-Nazi elected to lead village council in Germany

A German village council elected a neo-Nazi as their leader because he was the only one who ran for the position, a report said.

The seven-member council in the village of Waldsiedlung, near Frankfurt, unanimously voted to elect Stefan Jagsch as the head of the body last week, the Guardian reported.

Jagsch is a member of the National Democratic Party, a far-right extremist party that was formed in the 1960s, the New York Times reported.

Mainstream German parties, including the Social Democrats, have condemned the election.

“The SPD has a very clear position: We do not cooperate with Nazis! Never! This applies at the federal, state and communal levels,” Lars Klingbeil, the SPD’s secretary general wrote on Twitter.

“The decision in Altenstadt is incredible and cannot be justified. It must be reversed,” he added.

But members of the village’s council defended the election.

“We don’t have anyone else — especially not younger people who are good with computers and who can send emails,” a local council member and member of the Christian Democrat Party, Norbert Szilasko, told a local television station, the Times reported.