Robert Metsol Tedesco Trikas, a Maltese, has been elected the new President of the European Parliament in the first round of voting on Tuesday at the European Parliament’s headquarters in Strasbourg. She is elected for two and a half years, or the second half of the parliamentary term.
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The politician, who has just celebrated his 43rd anniversary, is positioning himself as the “new blood” and compromise seeker. “My approach is to rediscover Cole and Mitterrand’s call and, looking to the future, to leave the traps of the past. Politics cannot be simplified to winners and losers. It means improving society and life, and the European Parliament must be a leader here. Our institution is unique in the world. We need to strengthen it: we cannot be afraid of reforms, and the next mandate will see an opportunity to make the window of parliament even more modern and efficient. [valstu] citizens to exercise the rights we have been promised by scrutinizing, investigating and enforcing the law. Our Parliament is the best example of Europe. We are in Strasbourg as a symbol of democracy, reconciliation, peace, a European force to build a bright future, “she said from the EP ‘s rostrum before the election.
Metsola is a professional lawyer who has previously worked Malta representation in the EP, as well as European Union Legal Adviser to the High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Catherine Ashton. She was first elected to the EP in 2013 from Malta’s political force, the Partit Nazzjonalista, or Nationalist Party, which pursues a liberal, pro-European policy. In the EP, she is a member of its largest political force, the European People’s Party.
She has held the chair of the EP’s first vice-president since the end of 2020 and has been acting president since her incumbent’s death last week.
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Politico previously noted that the biggest opposition to her candidacy for the EP was from the Socialist bloc, which was concerned about Metsola’s conservative stance on abortion, but Metsola was also seen as the only serious candidate.
The newly elected President shall take up his duties immediately. Her first task will be to lead the election of the other members of Parliament’s Bureau.
In order to become President of the EP, Metsola had to receive an absolute majority of the votes cast (50% + 1 vote). She was elected with 458 votes. Candidates for the presidency could be nominated by a political group or a group of MEPs who reach the so-called low minimum of at least 36 MEPs out of a total of 705 MEPs.
Initially, four candidates ran for President of the European Parliament, but Polish Conservative Kosma Zlotowski withdrew before the vote. Alice Kunke, from the Greens, and Sira Rego, from Spain, also ran alongside Metso as President of the EP.
The presidency of the EP is one of the most important and influential in the European Union.
It has already been reported that the former EP President, David Mari Sasoli, a Social Democrat from Italy, passed away last week, on 11 January, just a day before the end of his first presidency. A member of the Italian political force “Partito Democratico” was 65 years old.
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