EU Parliament elects Maltese Roberta Metsola as new president

The European Union on Tuesday elected Maltese conservative Roberta Metsola as its new president, the first woman in 20 years to lead the assembly.

Metsola has been acting president since the death last Tuesday of her predecessor David Sassoli, to whom she was vice president.

Roberta Metsola, 43-year is the youngest-ever president of the European parliament, winning a comfortable majority to serve a two-and-a-half-year term.

Metsola, a lawyer by profession won in a landslide vote. She received an absolute majority of 458 votes out of 690 cast in the remote secret vote.

“I am grateful to have been elected as President of the European Parliament today and humbled by the responsibility bestowed on me. Our House will continue to stand up for our European values and for our Europe. This project belongs to all of us,” Metsola said in a tweet.

I am grateful to have been elected as President of the European Parliament today and humbled by the responsibility bestowed on me. Our House will continue to stand up for our European values and for our Europe. This project belongs to all of us pic.twitter.com/Bzd6vHRdTI
— Roberta Metsola (@EP_President) January 18, 2022

She beat the Greens’ candidate, Alice Bah Kuhnke, who got 101 votes and The Left’s candidate, Sira Rego, who got 57 votes.

Metsola, who studied European law, has been a member of the European Parliament since 2013 and has been the first vice president since November 2020.

She succeeds David Sassoli, who died last week at the age of 65, but who had already said he was not interested in another term of office.

Born in Malta in 1979, Roberta Metsola who has been an MEP since 2013, is the youngest EP President ever elected. She became First Vice-President in November 2020, and was Parliament’s acting President after President Sassoli passed away on 11 January. She is the third female President of the European Parliament, after Simone Veil (1979-1982) and Nicole Fontaine (1999- 2002).

(With inputs from agencies)