Beautiful Anti-abortion Politician Roberta Metsola Favorited As President Of The European Parliament, Replaces The Late David Sassoli

Roberta Metsola. (Facebook / Roberta Metsola)

JAKARTA - Roberta Metsola, an anti-abortion member of parliament, is the favorite to replace David Sassoli as President of the European Parliament, the only European Union parliamentary institution directly elected by Europeans.

Metsola, a member of the far-right European People's Party (EPP) from Malta, was among the four candidates for the position, along with Sira Rego of Spain (radical left), Kosma Zlotowski of Poland (ECR, Eurosceptics) and Alice Bah Kuhnke of Sweden ( Green).

Each will present their program to fellow MPs in Strasbourg on Tuesday to replace Sassoli, who died on January 11 and whose term ends this week, citing Euronews January 18.

Roberta Metsola has been a member of parliament since 2013 and vice president of Parliament since 2020. Metsola, a conservative MP, recently gained visibility into the duties of Sassoli, who was absent from Parliament for several weeks due to illness.

However, the mother-of-four has also drawn criticism from some of her colleagues for her anti-abortion views that are widely held in Malta, the last European Union country where abortion is still completely illegal.

Illustration of the European Parliament. (Wikimedia Commons/European Parliament)

Aware of the objections he raises on the matter, he assured that if elected, "his job is to represent the position of Parliament", including sexual and reproductive rights.

Traditionally, midterm elections for the European Parliament have almost always alternated between the left and the right. Metsola (43) was initially expected to benefit from an agreement between the three main political forces EPP, S&D (social democrats) and Renew Europe (centrists and liberals).

The groups had agreed in 2019 to support the nomination of Sassoli, a socialist. And, for the EPP candidate to take over the second half of the legislature.

But given his recent electoral success, particularly in Germany, the S&D group has questioned his support, with group leader Iratxe García explaining he wants to defend a candidate "according to (his) priorities and values".

The three groups finally reached a new agreement on Monday, based on a political declaration outlining several priorities, including the fight against violence against women and gender equality, European tax reform and implementing a directive on minimum wages.

The agreement also grants the S&D group five vice-presidential posts in parliament, as well as several committee seats.

On the far right, the Identity and Democracy (ID) group, which includes the French RN and the Italian League, will back Euroskeptic candidate Kosma Zlotowski of the European Conservatives and Reformers.

Roberta Metsola. (Facebook/Roberta Metsola)

Selection process

If elected, Metsola will become the third woman to chair the 705-member assembly, after France's Simone Veil (1979-1982) and Nicole Fontaine (1999-2002).

To be elected, a candidate must receive an absolute majority of the votes cast by secret ballot. If no absolute majority is obtained after three rounds of voting, a fourth round is held with the two candidates receiving the most votes in the previous round.

Unlike the previous ones, this time the voting will be conducted at a distance, due to the health situation related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition to the president, no less than 14 vice presidents will be elected during the session, for a term of two and a half years. The positions of heads of parliamentary committees and European delegates will also be renewed, setting the stage for fierce bargaining between political groups.

Under parliament's rules of procedure, the president has a number of powers, including deciding the admissibility of texts and amendments submitted to the assembly for a vote, as well as presiding over debates. He also represented the institution at the European Summit attended by 27 Member States.