An NPD Story

So this is one of those odd German political stories that popped up this week in Hessen.

There's this town of roughly 2,000 Germans.  The mayor's job came up (the old guy either retired or passed-on).  So they opened up the nomination process.  The town council called a meeting and then opened up the list of people who were listed as nominating themselves.

One single guy.  That's it.

So here's the catch.....which they didn't argue much about it or say 'no'.....he ended up as mayor.  But he's from the NPD Party.

Not familiar with them?  National Democratic Party of Germany.  They are considered ultra-far right and ultranationalist (not just a little nationalist, but extreme).  Most journalists would say they are just one step away from being Nazis.

No one running from the CDU?  Nope.  SPD?  Nope.  Green Party?  Nope.  Linke or FDP?  No.  Not even from the AfD?  No.

Shocker?  Well, the guy got elected into the job.

Why?  I sat and thought about this a good bit.  As much as you might think the mayor job in these small German towns takes only ten hours a week.....in a lot of cases, it's a full-time job and guys/gals put in forty to fifty hours a week easily.  It's not a job for a 70-year old guy....nor a housewife...or a farmer who is already working sixty hours a week.

So are there issues?  Well....some of the regional political parties (CDU, SPD, etc) are pretty upset that the town allowed this to happen, and that local people who say they are CDU or SPD....didn't run for the job.

A sign that the town might be Nazi-like?  I kinda doubt it.  The guy might be out there on the fringe but in a small town like this....folks are mostly concerned that the local fest runs on schedule....street lights work....snow gets removed off the main drag of town....stop lights function....potholes get fixed, and someone is in charge of emergency situations.   I get the feeling that they could care less if he was NPD.

UPDATE: Here on Tuesday, the 10th.  Well....the various parties got all hyped-up and have forced the city council of this village to do a 'de-select' deal on the NPD guy.  They are basically ordering the political folks in this village to find someone and draft them to stand for an election, whether they really want the mayor-job or not.  A bit amusing I will admit.

Update: 9-11-2019, the city found another candidate....22-year-old local gal who is a CDU member, and will be voted into office next week.  Most news reports chat on tolerance and how this changeover 'saved' the village.  A bit amusing if you ask me.