Maltese Roberta Metsola, member of the EPP (European People's Party), was elected president of the European Parliament in the first round and with a large majority: 458 votes in favor out of 616 valid votes (690 voting deputies). Not only did the voters vote in favour Popular, the socialists and liberals, the so-called “Ursula majority”, but also the reformist conservatives. She officially takes over from David Sassoli after serving as interim president as a result of his disappearance. The gaze now turns to the renewal of the commission presidents.
After some uncertainties due to her anti-abortion positions, the parliamentarian managed to obtain the support of the pro-European forces in the assembly in Strasbourg, obtaining an overwhelming majority. The other candidates were the Swedish Green Alice Kunkhe (101 votes) and the Spanish Sir Rego (57) exponent of the radical left. The Conservative Candidate Kosma Zlotowski, a member of the ECR (reformist conservatives, of which Giorgia Meloni is president) retired in the morning. The League and the Brothers of Italy by affinity also voted for Mrs. Metsola "on the defense of family values". While the pentastellati have opted for the freedom to vote.
"I will honor David Sassoli as president by always fighting for Europe. I want people to regain a sense of faith and enthusiasm towards our project. I believe in a more just, equitable and supportive shared space”, said the new president Metsola in the Assembly of the European Parliament. “Disinformation in the pandemic period has fueled isolationism, and nationalism, these are false illusions, Europe is the exact opposite of this,” she added. “David was a fighter for Europe. He believed in the power of Europe. Thanks David." “I feel honored by the responsibility you entrust to me. I promise I will do my best to work for the benefit of all citizens,” Metsola added, speaking his first words as president in Italian.
Metsola, 43 today, is a lawyer for the Nationalist Party (from 2004 to 2012). She was the first woman from the island of Malta to become an MEP, in a country with a low percentage of women holding political office. After running as a candidate in the 2004 and 2009 European elections, without being able to obtain a seat in Strasbourg, you replaced Simon Busuttil in 2013, after his resignation to take up the post of Maltese MP. In the European elections of 2014 and 2019 she was re-elected, in both cases resulting in the most votes of her party.
But with the election of Metsola - an anti-abortionist from an EU country where abortion is still illegal - the change of register is evident and radical. The majority that elected the Maltese is very different from the one that elected Sassoli in 2019 and, a few weeks later, Ursula von der Leyen to the presidency of the European Commission and excluded the sovereignists who are now regaining their place at the decision-making table after their exclusion three years ago. Those same political forces against Europe and also the nationalists, the most ardent in defending the sovereignty of each member state, are back in the game.
Updated at 13:41pm on Tuesday, January 18, 2022
