Maltese MEP Roberta Metsola is closer to being appointed president of the European Parliament for the second half of the current term as incumbent David Sassoli is not seeking a renewal of his mandate.
POLITICO said that this ‘decision removes perhaps the biggest obstacle to the presidency for Maltese MEP Roberta Metsola, who is running as the candidate from the conservative European People’s Party (EPP), Parliament’s largest bloc. Previously, there was a possibility she could face opposition from Sassoli, who was believed to be interested in a second term.’
Still, Sassoli and other S&D leaders made clear that their group would not necessarily back Metsola. Instead, the group will try to negotiate a deal with the EPP “and condition the vote to Metsola,” one S&D official said. Eventually, the European Parliament’s Socialists said that they will support Roberta Metsola from the rival European People’s Party (EPP) as the assembly’s next president on one condition: Klaus Welle, the Parliament’s powerful secretary-general, is kicked out, according to POLITICO.
The Socialists said that they would not put forward a candidate for the job, several S&D officials said their price would be to replace Welle with a Socialist. The officials said S&D leader Iratxe García is set to discuss the move, and other demands, with her EPP counterpart Manfred Weber.
The two parties have a power-sharing arrangement in place that is supposed to see Sassoli replaced with an EPP MEP, but there had been strong suggestions the center left was going to renege on the deal. The EPP is Parliament’s largest party, while S&D ranks second.
