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Freedom Party leader Guy Verhofstadt has not yet officially decided to run for president of the European Parliament, but the party is mulling his options.
The question was not on the official agenda of the Alde conference, which began on Friday (December 2) in Warsaw, but one party official said it was “the elephant in the room”.
Verhofstadt himself did not mention the matter publicly, but in his speech at the opening of parliament he broke off the “unholy alliance” between the Socialist and Democratic Party (S&D) group and the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP). He said he wanted to. Parliament.
Last week, the current Assembly Speaker, S&D’s Martin Schulz, said he would not seek a third term of two and a half years. His soon-to-be vacant position is coveted by the centre-right EPP.
The EPP, parliament’s largest group, argues that it should win the speakership under a gentleman’s agreement between the EPP and S&D, which traditionally splits the five-year parliamentary term in two. .
Speaking in Warsaw, Verhofstadt said he rejected “a Europe mismanaged by the old two major parties” and wanted an end to “backroom deals and orders without vision or project”.
The EPP will select candidates on December 13th. Meanwhile, Italian parliamentarian Gianni Pittella said he is running for S&D.
Czech lawmaker Pavel Telicka told EUobserver that Verhofstadt is the “best candidate” for the position, a “heavyweight” in parliament and “more inclusive” than Schulz or his successor. He claimed that.
He added that his leader is “not just a speaker” and that he “will not defend Alde’s position in the same way that Mr. Schultz has defended S&D’s position.”
But Alde is also trying to increase its influence beyond principles.
The party’s leader, Dutch lawmaker Hans van Baalen, pointed out that the EPP already has Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker in top jobs in the European Council and European Commission.
“There should be a liberal as president of the European Parliament, and there is someone who can do that, and that is Guy Verhofstadt,” Van Baalen told EUobserver. “We will provide him with all the support he needs.”
Verhofstadt, a former Belgian prime minister and recently appointed parliamentary Brexit coordinator, is a well-known figure, but his group is only the fourth-largest in parliament.
Verhofstadt, who has 69 Alde MPs, needs 307 more votes to win the presidency and will only run if he receives support from the EPP and other groups opposed to S&D.
“His moment is now.”
Alde officials told this website that the green groups and the radical left GUE/NGL were ready to support him.
One of them also asserted that some S&D MPs were prepared to support liberal leaders rather than their official candidate, Pittera.
Mr. Verhofstadt’s attempt to break up the grand coalition between the EPP and S&D is aimed at gaining support from other groups as the cozy relationship between Mr. Schulz and the EPP’s EU Commissioner Mr. Juncker evaporates. may become necessary.
“We have a political committee and it’s time to hold a political assembly,” an Alde official told the website.
The yearning for change among MEPs was recognized by the EPP’s top MEPs.
“We do not rule out the possibility of Mr. Verhofstadt,” the MEP said in Brussels earlier this week. “His moment is now.”
But some within Alde’s party believe that despite Verhofstadt’s political influence, his personality could prevent him from leading the 751-member chamber, which is made up of nine groups spanning the entire political spectrum. Some people think.
One MEP told EUobserver in Warsaw that Verhofstadt should not be elected because he is “too federalist and too provocative”. “Many people like him, but many people hate him.”
low profile
The lawmaker pointed out that the group’s leadership rushed to endorse French lawmaker Sylvie Goulard earlier this week after she announced her candidacy for the presidential election, and said that the group’s internal discussions ahead of parliament led to internal party discussions. He suggested that this may be being suppressed.
For now, Tericka said, Verhofstadt “has a strong mandate from the group to negotiate all medium-term policies” as well as the parliamentary presidency.
He said Verhofstadt would seek to change the functioning of parliament in negotiations with other group leaders.
“If someone else is president, that’s fine,” he said. “But it should be a stronger, more inclusive parliamentary leader with the courage to tackle political issues.”
Verhofstadt needs to gather more people who like him than dislike him by January 16, the day before members of the House of Representatives vote to elect a new president.
That’s why the liberal leader, unusually for him, kept a low profile on the issue in Warsaw.
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