By Martin Banks - 19th February 2009
“This is parliament’s most prestigious position and should not be subject to some sort of “technical” agreement”
Jacek Saryusz-Wolksi
ALDE group leader Graham Watson has won backing from an unexpected quarter in his ambitious bid to become parliament’s next president.
Many have dismissed Watson’s bid as a non-starter, assuming that the assembly’s top job will be shared between parliament’s top two political groups, the EPP-ED and PES.
But Jacek Saryusz-Wolksi, a leading EPP-ED deputy, says he opposes what some have dubbed a “stitch up” by the two big groupings.
“This is parliament’s most prestigious position and should not be subject to some sort of “technical” agreement,” said Saryusz-Wolski, who chairs parliament’s foreign affairs committee and was once himself touted as a candidate for the post.
“There should be an open contest between each of the declared candidates and, of course, that should include Graham Watson.”
Two candidates have emerged as strong contenders for the job - Jerzy Buzek, a centre-right Polish member and former prime minister of Poland, and Martin Schulz, currently leader of the Socialist group – to replace the current president Hans-Gert Pöttering.
Under a deal expected to be struck after the election, where the EPP is once again predicted to form the biggest grouping, Buzek and Schulz would share the five-year term.
Speaking recently at a European Policy Centre DEBATE, Watson said his was a “serious” campaign which aims to highlight the differences between the various political groups and offer a “viable” alternative.
Meanwhile, as exclusively forecast by this website last week, EU regional policy commissioner Danuta Hübner has agreed to stand for the elections in June, according to media reports.
She is quoted as saying, “I was offered this possibility by the Polish PM which I have in principle decided to accept.”
She says the election will be of particular importance because it would be the first time they would be about Europe, not just national issues.
“This is because the treaty and the new group, Libertas, which will raise issues to which we will have to react strongly,” said the former academic.
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