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European Parliament Elects New President

A week after David Sassoli, the European Parliament will elect a new president today/Tuesday in Strasbourg. It is virtually certain that on her 43rd birthday, Maltese conservative Roberta Metsola will become the third woman in history to lead the European hemisphere.

 

After persistent health problems, the 65-year-old Sassoli succumbed last week in a Roman hospital. Still, even without the death of the Italian social democrat, more than 700 representatives would choose a new president on Tuesday. After 2.5 years, halfway through the legislature, Sassoli’s mandate had ended.

Four MEPs are seeking the chair: in addition to Roberta Metsola from the European People’s Party (EPP), the Swedish Alice Bah Kuhnke from the Green Group, the Pole Kosma Zlotowski from the conservative ECR Group, and Spain’s Sira Rego from the far left submitted their candidacy on Monday at 5 pm.

The first round of voting will start around 9:30 am. A candidate must obtain an absolute majority of the votes cast to win the gavel. If that is not possible in a first-round, a second and possibly a third round will follow. Finally, if the white smoke still remains, the two candidates with the most votes in the third round will compete against each other in an ultimate fourth round.

But it probably won’t be a nail biter. In keeping with tradition, the EPP, the S&D Social Democrats and the Renew Liberals reached an agreement after the 2019 elections on the division of top positions. As a result, Sassoli was allowed to take the lead on behalf of S&D; for the second part of the legislature, it was the turn of the EPP.

Still, the vote was preceded by some tug-of-war. Both S&D and Renew grumbled about Metsola’s opposition to abortion. Finally, hearings took place, where the Maltese Conservative swore that as chair, she would live up to the duties of her office and thus invariably represent the position of the hemisphere.

The fact that neither S&D nor Renew has nominated their own candidate seems to confirm that the 2019 agreement has remained intact. The vote is secret and remote, so not completely predictable, but it is quite possible that the argument will be settled in the first round. It would then be confirmed by 11 am that Metsola will become the third female President of the European Parliament after Simone Veil and Nicole Fontaine.

It is not only the chairperson’s seat that is vacant. All top positions in the hemisphere will be redistributed halfway through the legislature. Following the election of the President, 14 new Vice-Presidents and five Quaestors are also elected. Together they sit in the Bureau, the body that takes organizational, administrative and financial decisions.

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