European Parliament, appoints new president after Sassoli: who are the 4 candidates in the running
The times of politics are merciless, even in Europe. After the sad and premature greeting to David Sassoli, the European Parliament look for the new leader. An appointment that was already planned but which now takes on a more bitter connotation after the death of the former Italian president of the community forum. At stake there is not a simple armchair, but a key role. And the outcome of the race could also upset the internal equilibrium of the Ursula majority, that is to say the informal (but not too much) grand coalition that brings together European People’s Party, Socialists & Democrats and Renew Europe (the liberal group led by Emmanuel Macron).
European Parliament, the favorite is the Maltese Metsola (Ppe). Who is it
Prassi would like the presidency to go to the Popolari. After the German Manfred Weber and the socialist Sassoli would again be the turn of the center-right Eurogroup. And indeed S&D and Renew Europe have not presented an alternative name to the obligatory favorite, namely Roberta Metsola. Maltese, Metsola is a legal professional, active from an early age in the Maltese Nationalist Party, a member of the European People’s Party. In 2013 he took the seat of Simon Busuttil, who resigned after being elected to the Maltese Parliament. In the European elections of 2014 and 2019 she was re-elected, in both cases being the most voted in her party. Vice-president since November 2020, he is already interim president after Sassoli’s death. It would therefore be the most logical choice and in greater continuity.
And in fact she appears to be the great favorite to take the baton from Sassoli and carry on the experience of the so-called majority Ursula, this time with a popular guide. She is married to a Finnish (a language she speaks fluently in addition to Italian) and has four children. What is causing a sensation are his positions considered as anti-abortionists.
European Parliament, socialists and liberals tempted by the Swedish green Bah Kuhnke. Who is it
Yet his victory does not seem so obvious. The Greens have decided to nominate a name in stark contrast to his own. It is about Alice Bah Kuhnke. Swedish MP and Vice-President of the Greens / Ale group, as well as a member of the commissions for civil liberties, justice and home affairs and for women’s rights and gender equality, Bah Kuhnke has Gambian origins and was the Swedish government minister for culture and Democracy, Director General for the Swedish Agency for Youth and Civil Society, Secretary General for Fair Trade Sweden and Director of Sustainability at AF AB.
It is no coincidence that a name that is a symbol of progressivism and a symbol of civil rights. A name that could also tempt the S&D socialists and maybe even someone from the liberal group of Renew Europe. If liberals and socialists decide to spite Metsola and turn the balance at the helm of Europe green, without the tutor Angela Merkel anymore, they could change in an unexpected way.
European Parliament, the sovereigns nominate the Polish Zlotowski. Who is it
The two extreme wing candidates leave with much less chance. On the right, for the group of Conservatives and Reformists, the one to which the Brothers of Italy by Giorgia Meloni belongs, the candidate is the Pole Kosma Zlotowski. Former mayor of the city of Bydgoszcz and former member of the two chambers of the Warsaw Parliament, he was elected with the Pis (Law and Justice) in 2014 and was confirmed in 2019. Journalist, he has a degree in Polish philology and a masters in Business Administration at the Dominican University of Chicago. His eventual affirmation would shift the axis of Brussels and Strasbourg more decisively on a line hostile to Russia.
European Parliament, the Spanish Communist Sira Rego also tries. Who is it
On the left there is instead Sira Rego. Spanish, 49, is affiliated with the Communist Party. Elected to the European Parliament in 2019 as the face of a vast radical left coalition that has also united Podemos. Former councilor and responsible for housing policies of Rivas-Vaciamadrid (in the autonomous community of the Spanish capital) she has long been involved in environmental sustainability, parks and gardens, mobility and urban transport and the safety of citizens within the municipal government since Pedro del Cura. Becoming Alberto Garzón’s right-hand man within the United Left, she became a member of the federal executive in January 2017.
Voting will begin on Tuesday 18 January. The European Parliament will soon have a new president. We will see if it will also have new equilibrium, or if instead prudence will win.
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