By Martin Banks - 2nd February 2012
He is the president for all MEPs
Nirj Deva
Parliament's newly-elected president Martin Schulz has been branded "unfit" for the prestige post after allegedly breaking parliamentary rules of procedure.
The attack comes after Schulz reacted to a speech in a parliamentary debate by UKIP leader Nigel Farage on Wednesday.
In the debate about the outcome of Monday's EU summit, Farage accused Schulz of "allowing himself" to make a comment on the content of his speech.
Farage said, "To my understanding, the president cannot use his position to take a political advantage during a debate over a speaker who is not allowed to answer."
The British deputy cited a parliamentary rule of procedure, which states, "The president may speak in a debate only to sum up or to call speakers to order. Should he wish to take part in a debate, he shall vacate the chair and shall not reoccupy it until the debate is over."
In a letter to Schulz, Farage said, "It looks as if you as president have broken parliament's rules of procedure."
Farage says that when he protested against this "unfair" intervention, the German MEP's "only answer was to threaten me with removal from the chamber by the ushers".
"I would ask you, as the guardian of the codes of conduct, whether you believe your action was worthy of the position you hold."
Later, Farage was even more damning of Schulz, accusing him of a "bullying, aggressive" approach.
Farage, who plans to raise the issue in a meeting of political group leaders, told this website, "The president should be strictly neutral but I am afraid he is showing his bias less than two weeks into his presidency of parliament. Based on this incident he has shown himself to be incapable of fulfilling his duties. Basically, he is unsuitable for the job."
His comments were echoed by British ECR member Nirj Deva, who was runner-up to Schulz in this month's contest for the presidency job.
Deva raised the issue as a "point of order" before parliamentary votes on Thursday, saying Schulz had broken the "rules of this house".
He demanded Schulz gives an undertaking to comply with the rules in future.
Schulz did not reply and moved on with business of the day.
Francesco Speroni, joint leader of the EFD group, said he would raise the issue "forcefully" at the next conference of presidents meeting.
Deva told this website, "I think we want a president who is prepared to represent all MEPs, not just some. And that includes MEPs like Nigel Farage and Daniel Cohn-Bendit.
"The president of parliament should not take sides in a debate or argument. That is not his job. His job is to reflect the views of all members and not make personal comments when someone makes a speech.
"He is the president for all MEPs and, in his eyes, we should all be equal. Our new president needs to understand this."
Deva added, "I think, perhaps, that Martin Schulz needs reminding of these facts."
A spokesman for Schulz said, "Martin Schulz was not commenting on the speech but was calling Mr Farage to order after his repeated use of offensive unparliamentary language. Mr Schulz was defending the House and its members."
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