The European Parliament elects this Tuesday the substitute for the Italian socialist in his presidency, a race in which Roberta Metsola is the clear favorite
The European Parliament elects this Tuesday the substitute for the socialist David Sassoli, who died last week at the age of 65, a vote that for the first time in history will combine the face-to-face and telematic vote, due to the health crisis derived from covid. The different groups have presented four candidates, but the pact between the Social Democrats and the European Popular Party to control this institution -in two terms of two and a half years- makes the acting president, Roberta Metsola, the clear favorite. His position against abortion, however, generates rejection among progressive MEPs and closes doors for him in order to obtain more support.
Roberta Metsola – Malta
The mathematical winner
He has assured the votes of the base of the European People’s Party (EPP), which has 178 seats in the hemicycle. She has experience leading the European Parliament after two and a half years as vice president and, in the fall, she had to cover Sassoli for several months, who suffered from severe pneumonia. A lawyer specializing in European legislation, Metsola, 42, belongs to the more moderate wing of the EPP and is open to discussing the rights of LGBT people and migration policies, one of the EU’s priority issues at the moment when she is studying how to strengthen its borders.
It defends the vision of a Europe in peace, green, with equal opportunities, justice and work. She is also openly against the right to abortion and voted against a motion that criminalized sexist violence throughout the European Union.
Kosma Zlotowski – Poland
The Conservatives letter
The Pole from the group of European Conservatives and Reformists aspires to obtain the votes among the sectors of the right that are uncomfortable with the opening of Metsola. He stresses the need to reform the European Parliament, so that it becomes “a place of open and democratic debate”, where the majority is not won by “secret political negotiations”. It also advocates putting an end to the “excessive weight” of some political forces and countries, “which impose their policies” on the EU.
The 58-year-old politician has a degree in Philology, Literature and Economics and worked for a time as a journalist. In his native country he was a councilor and mayor of the town of Bydgoszcz, a member of the Polish House of Representatives and a senator. Among his priorities in the European Parliament is the “reduction of waste” and achieving the impartiality of the institution.
Alice Bah Kuhnke – Sweden
An environmentalist without ties
The former Swedish Minister of Culture is the card played by the Greens, who did not feel good that Metsola had not sat down with them to draw up Parliament’s roadmap. Born to a Swedish mother and a Gambian father, Alice Bah Kuhnke, 50, is proud to represent European “diversity”. She has a degree in Political Science and for some years worked as a journalist on several national television channels.
In 1994, she supported the referendum in favor of Sweden’s entry into the EU and was Minister of Culture in the Government of Stefan Löfven. She also came to hold the position of director general of the Swedish agency for youth and civil society. In the European Parliament, she has participated in committees in defense of women’s rights and is part of the group for the defense of the rights of the LGTB collective. A committed ecologist, she presents herself as a candidate without ties, which would allow her to address a green agenda, to reduce polluting gas emissions, sustainable and feminist.
Sira Rego – Spain
The Left repeats its bet
This Spanish politician was already in the race to occupy the presidency of the European Parliament in July 2019, when David Sassoli was elected. She is the vice president of the Left group in the European Parliament and has a degree in Nutrition. Before taking up his seat in the hemicycle, he held different positions of responsibility in various town councils and was deputy mayor of the Rivas-Vaciamadrid Town Hall.
Affiliated with the Communist Party of Spain, Ecologists in Action and Workers’ Commissions, this 48-year-old Valencian defends the need for “political courage to face current challenges”, among which the climate and social crisis and “the war of the extreme right against human rights”.
The Social Democrats demand that the balance of power be restored
The appointment of David Sassoli two and a half years ago as President of the European Parliament responded to the balance of power between the main political forces to share the leadership of the EU bodies. With Sassoli’s death, political power within community institutions is destabilized.
The president of the European Social Democrats, the Spanish Iratxe García, has already warned that if a candidate from the European Popular Party is elected, her group will demand to have more influence within the EU bodies. Not surprisingly, the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats is the second strongest group in the European Parliament with 146 seats. The group of the European People’s Party (187 seats) has Ursula von der Leyen at the head of the European Commission and the Renew Europe Party (98 MEPs) has Charles Michel in the European Council.
Without Sassoli, Josep Borrel, in charge of community diplomacy, is the largest representation of the Social Democrats. For this reason, the battle to achieve greater influence in the machinery of the Union could be waged in the ‘bureau’ of the European Parliament, a body that elects the secretary general of the European Parliament, in charge of organizing and marking the road map of the institution . This work table currently has seven popular representatives, four social democrats and three liberals.
The position of general secretary is occupied by the German conservative Klaus Welle, who has been in the position for thirteen years. However, with the departure of Chancellor Angela Merkel, times of change are blowing that could boost Markus Winkle, also German, the bet of the Social Democrats and former chief of staff of the former president of the European Parliament Martin Schulz.
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