The Diplomat
The European Parliament will elect on Tuesday its president for the second half of the legislature, following the sudden death of David Sassoli.
So far four MEPs have announced their candidacy: Roberta Metsola (EPP, Malta), Alice Bah Kuhnke (Greens/EFA, Sweden), Kosma Zlotowski (ECR, Poland) and Sira Rego (The Left,, Spain). The deadline for submitting candidates for the first round is Monday at 17.00. Candidates can introduce themselves, and withdraw, before each round of voting.
“I assume with joy and responsibility the candidacy of The Left for the presidency of the European Parliament at a time when we need political audacity to face two of the great current challenges: the ecosocial crisis and the war of the extreme right against human rights,” Rego wrote last December via her Twitter account.
Sira Rego, from Izquierda Unida, already presented her candidacy for the presidency of the European Parliament in June 2019, when David Sassoli was elected for a two-and-a-half-year term that was to end, precisely, in January 2022. In that vote, Rego obtained 43 votes, far below the 345 of the Italian Socialist MEP, who died last January 11.
To be elected, the candidate must obtain an absolute majority (half plus one) of the valid votes cast by secret ballot. Due to the pandemic, the vote will be held remotely. Candidates will make a brief presentation on Tuesday morning at 9:00 a.m., just prior to the first round of voting, which will take place between 9:30 a.m. and 10:15 a.m.
The results will be announced at 11.00. If there is no winner in the first round, the same or other candidates may be nominated for a second and third round, under the same conditions. If there is no winner in the third round, the two candidates with the highest number of votes in the third round will go to a fourth and final ballot, in which the winner will be the one with the highest number of votes. The announcement of the result of this possible fourth ballot is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
After the election, the new President may address the plenary, before taking up his seat during the election of the remaining seats on the Bureau. All elected positions in the European Parliament (president, vice-presidents, quaestors, as well as chairmen and vice-chairmen of committees and delegations) are renewed at the beginning of the parliamentary term and after half of it, after two and a half years. The president has broad executive and representative powers and the power to preside over the deliberations of Parliament and to ensure that they are carried out.
