The European Parliament elects its new president this Tuesday for the remaining two and a half years of the 2019-2024 legislature in a vote for which the Maltese popular MEP Roberta Metsola has the support of the three large groups and, therefore, all the ballots to take over the position.
Metsola, which turns 43 this Tuesday, has the support of popular, social democrats and liberals to gather a majority of the same colors that in 2019 raised his predecessor to the presidency of the European Parliament, David Sassoli, and from the Commission to the German Ursula von der Leyen.
After weeks of negotiations between the three groups, the Social Democrats and the Liberals announced on Monday afternoon that they would support the popular candidate; in the case of the socialist caucus, in exchange for more weight among the 14 vice-presidencies of the institution and other leadership positions in the European Parliament, although without his desired relief from the institution’s general secretary, the popular Klaus Welle.
In addition to Metsola, the other three deputies who have applied for the position, although with virtually no options, are the Swedish Greens Alice Bah Kuhnke, the Spanish of the Left Sira Rego and the Polish conservative Kosma Zlotowski.
The day began at 9:00 a.m. with a brief presentation of each of the candidates before the chamber, after which a first round of voting was held. The vote will be cast electronically due to the pandemic, so the result will not be known until 11:00 a.m.
A candidate needs to obtain an absolute majority of valid votes cast (half plus one) to be elected; If this margin is not achieved in the first round, a second and a third round will be held, to which the same candidates can present themselves again and whose results will be announced at 1:00 p.m. and 4:30 p.m., respectively.
Only the two candidates who have obtained the most support in the third round could present themselves to a possible fourth round. This final result would be known at 6:30 p.m.
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