Fight on for presidency of Parliament

Date: 15/07/1999

By Gareth Harding

THE European Parliament's two largest political groups will fight it out for the presidency of the assembly for the first time in ten years next week .

For the past decade, the European People's Party and the Socialists have shared the largely ceremonial post between them, with the larger of the two parties taking the job during the first half of the five-year legislature and the smaller one holding it for the rest.

As the largest political force in the new Parliament, the EPP had expected its candidate to be unopposed, but the Socialists broke with tradition last week by deciding to put forward former Portuguese Premier Mario Soares to stand against current French Vice-President Nicole Fontaine.

Although the Christian Democrats are by far the largest party in the new Parliament, the Socialists could pip the EPP to the post if they gain the support of the Greens, Liberals and the United Left groups.

Newly elected Socialist leader Enrique Barón Crespo said this week that he was "in full contact" with other political parties in order to build a "progressive, open and inclusive majority" in the assembly.

The Socialists' decision to put the issue to a vote is partly due to Soares' age - he will be 77 by the Parliament's mid-term - and partly due to growing tensions between the assembly's most dominant forces.

A Socialist spokesman claimed that "the understanding between the two big groups has been seriously damaged by the EPP's move to the right and the instability within the group".

But an EPP official retorted that "the Socialists have not understood that they lost the elections". Accusing the left of being "out of line" for demanding first bite at the cherry, the spokesman said that "it is very difficult to work with a group who came second and wants the biggest post".