Brussels, Jan. 18 (BNA): Roberta Metsula, a Christian Democrat from Malta, was elected president of the European Union Parliament on Tuesday, appointing women to three of the four largest jobs in the 27-nation bloc.
Mezzola succeeds Italian socialist David Sassoli, who died last week. She is only the third woman elected to this position. Her birthday was on a Tuesday, and at the age of 43, she became the youngest female president of the European Parliament.
Mitsula was the candidate for the largest bloc in Parliament, receiving 458 votes out of the 616 votes cast on Tuesday. She has already been acting president since Sassoli’s death on January 11.
European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was unable to attend the parliamentary session because she is in quarantine due to the coronavirus. Another woman, Christine Lagarde, runs the powerful European Central Bank, which wields significant influence over the EU economy.
The European Council, which represents the governments of the 27 member states, is chaired by a man, Charles Michel, who hosts summits of the bloc’s leaders as president of the council.
Presidential elections for the second half of the legislature had long been planned, but became even more emotional after the death of Sassoli, who had been ill for several months and decided not to seek another two-and-a-half year term.
Mitsola will lead an institution in the European Union that has grown stronger over the years and has been instrumental in charting the course of the 27-nation bloc on issues such as the digital economy, climate change and Brexit.
Mitsola, who is known for being committed to building bridges between the parties, said she would stick to Sassoli’s business style, according to the Associated Press.
She pointed to giants of post-war European politics such as the German Christian Democrat Helmut Kohl and French socialist François Mitterrand for overcoming partisan divisions and providing direction to them.
Reflecting on another European Parliament president, French Lady Nicole Fontaine, who chaired from 1999 to 2002, Mitsola vowed that “it will not pass another two decades until the next woman stands here.”
The European Parliament represents the 450 million citizens of the European Union and refers to itself as “the heart of European democracy”. Parliament has always been a lower institution in the European Union compared to the European Commission and the European Council.
For many years, Parliament, located in Strasbourg, France, and Brussels, was seen as a money-consuming debate shop, where politicians serving their national purpose were often sent.
But as it gained decision-making powers, the legislature has become an even more powerful player on the European stage. Mitsola wants to continue this trend.
Mitsula is the first politician from Malta, a Mediterranean archipelago in the middle of the Mediterranean with a population of just over half a million, to hold such a high position in the European Union.
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