BRUSSELS
European lawmakers will convene on Tuesday to choose the new president of the European Parliament, in what promises to be a stormy election.
Eight parliamentary groups have put forward candidates for the presidency, but it is expected that the outcome will be between Italian MEPs Antonio Tajani of the center-right European People’s Party (EPP) -- the largest group in the parliament-- and Gianni Pittella of the center-left Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D).
An absolute majority will be sought in the first three rounds of secret-ballot voting to be held in Strasbourg, as MEPs choose a replacement for German socialist Martin Schulz who served as president from 2012.
However, because of a lack of political agreement, the president is expected to be elected in the last round and this could involve making alliances with other parliamentary groups who account for the vast majority of the parliament’s 751 MEPs.
If an absolute majority is not achieved in the first three rounds, a fourth and last round will be held.
This time the two candidates with the most votes will compete and a simple majority will be sought.
Candidates from the left
Eleonora Forenza will be the candidate for 52-member European United Left – Nordic Green Left group. It is expected that Pittella will receive almost all 190 votes from his S&D group.
If Pittella does not form an alliance with the EPP, he will need the support of the extreme left as well as lawmakers from the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE).
British MEP Jean Lambert will be a candidate for the 50-member Greens/European Free Alliance. ALDE leader Guy Verhofstadt will need to support this group to strengthen his hand against other names in the late rounds.
Liberals’ candidate
Sixty-three-year-old Verhofstadt is the ALDE candidate. It is expected that the former prime minister of Belgium will back Pittella or Tajani in the last round in return for a vice-presidency position or committee chairs. Verhofstadt will have a chance of becoming president only if Pittella withdraws.
Right-wing groups’ candidates
Tajani, 63, is the EPP’s candidate. Although Tajani stands out as one of the favorites, his close ties with former Italian President Silvio Berlusconi are controversial.
A former journalist Tajani, who was nominated after receiving 94 votes out of 217 EPP members, is expected to have the support of liberals plus the the anti-EU far right in the last round.
The European Conservatives and Reformists’ candidate is Belgian MEP Helga Stevens. Consisting of conservative and center-right parties, the 74-member group’s members are expected to back EPP candidate Tajani.
Italian MEP Piernicola Pedicini is the candidate of the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy group. Nigel Farage who led the Brexit campaign in the United Kingdom is the co-chair of the 44-member grouping.
Co-chaired by Marine Le Pen, the leader of France’s far-right National Front, the 33-member Europe of Nations and Freedom group’s candidate is Romanian MEP Laurentiu Rebega. The group is anti-Turkey and anti-EU.
