The European Parliament elected Tilly Metz of Luxembourg as the institution’s new Vice-President. She received 423 votes and was elected by an absolute majority in a secret electronic ballot.
Rada Laikova of “Vazrazhdane”, who is a member of the Europe of Sovereign Nations group, also took part in the contest. She received 114 votes. A total of 579 votes were cast, 42 of which were “abstentions” and were not included in the final result.
Metz takes Ștefănuță’s place
The new election was necessary following the resignation of Romanian MEP Nicolae Ștefănuță as Vice-President. He left the position after being elected co-chair of his political group in the European Parliament.
With her election, Tilly Metz became the eleventh Vice-President in the existing order of precedence. Parliament’s rules stipulate that when a position becomes vacant, a new Vice-President must be elected to take the place of their predecessor in that order.
Trial votes featuring Phil Collins and Jennifer Lopez
Before the actual vote, MEPs held two trial votes to test the electronic system. In them, the choice was between singers Phil Collins and Jennifer Lopez.
Phil Collins received more votes in the first trial ballot, while Jennifer Lopez had the advantage in the second. The tests were not part of the election of the Vice-President.
The European Parliament has 14 Vice-Presidents and five Quaestors. Together with the President, they make up the institution’s Bureau, which is responsible for the Parliament’s administrative, organisational and financial matters. Among the Quaestors is Bulgarian MEP Andrey Kovachev of GERB and the European People’s Party.
Sources: bta.bg