“They are leading us to war by protecting the genocidal Netanyahu”

“Fascists are stopped by guaranteeing rights.” Irene Monteiro, former equality minister and Podemos MEP, has defended her candidacy for the presidency of the European Parliament, denouncing the cuts in rights that the extreme right is making in Europe, in collusion with the traditional right. And with a demand for peace “against the criminal Putin” and against the “genocidal Netanyahu”.

Monteiro competes for the presidency of the European Chamber against Roberta Metsola, a Maltese MEP, conservative, anti-abortion, and who has an agreement of the popular, socialist and liberal parties. Metsola is the outgoing president, the result of a pact between the three political families who agreed to give half the mandate for the previous legislature to the Italian socialist David Sassoli and the other half to Metsola.

The agreement of course includes the Maltese for the first section, and it remains to be seen which Socialist will occupy the next position – there is talk of the Spanish Iratxe García, leader of the Socialists in the European Parliament, but it could also be someone from the Italian Democratic Party, the main delegation of the Social Democratic Party. The agreement also included the vote for Ursula von der Leyen as President of the European Commission this Thursday, in addition to the leadership of European diplomacy for the already high-profile former Slovenian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas. Antiputinists

“They are irresponsibly leading us to war while defending a genocide,” Irene Monteiro said in her speech, which was interrupted at some point by noise from the right-wing benches: “Netanyahu could not have carried out this genocide without the support of the US and Europe. Europe can no longer be complicit in the genocidal State of Israel. Why don’t we break the partnership agreement immediately? Why not impose sanctions on the genocidal Netanyahu in the same way as on the criminal Putin? This hypocrisy is intolerable and will not be solved by our silence. The priority for humanity at the moment is to end the genocide and the illegal occupation of Palestine.”

While Monteiro has given a speech with a marked political profile, claiming the flag of his group, La Izquierda, Metsola has resorted to a flatter tone, claiming parliamentary sovereignty when he is president despite the CJEU not recognizing Toni Comín’s seat in the December 2019 decision that opened the doors for him and Carles Puigdemont and Clara Ponsatí.

And while Monteiro has pointed to the Israeli massacre in Gaza, the Maltese has limited himself to talking about “humanity in the Middle East”, without mentioning the nearly 40,000 Palestinian deaths caused by the Israeli attack, without mentioning “Kiev and Chisinau”, the capitals of Ukraine and Moldova, countries that are at the doorstep of the European Union.

In his speech, Metsola said that “democracy must be represented and lived out.” “They will see us acting as leaders, upholding our values, the rule of law, the invasion of Ukraine, humanity in the Middle East, the need to uphold our commitments as a firm social pillar, so that no one is left behind.”

Monteiro, for his part, has addressed the political families, the populists, the socialists and the liberals, who support Metsola: “You say you defend a cordon for the extreme right. The elections in France have left us a democratic and anti-fascist lesson: the extreme right is defeated by the left. Neoliberal policies and the narrative of moderation not only do not stop the extreme right, but they roll out the red carpet for it. “Fascists are stopped by guaranteeing rights.”

And he added: “From the European Left Group we believe that the time has come to mobilise the forces of peace, to end genocide, the right to housing, public services, labour rights, feminism, anti-racism, anti-fascism and social justice. We must mobilise the strength of moral principles, the strength of hope in the face of the strongest law. The present has to work to build a Europe of rights and a better world and for this we ask you to vote for us.”

The left-wing group, which includes Podemos, Sumar -Estrella Galán- and part of EH Bildu, for example, is also the political family of La Francia Insumisa, Syriza, Die Linke and Sinn Féin, and has historically presented candidates for the presidency of the European Parliament, despite the fact that the agreements of the main political families mean that they will always remain socialist and populist.

In 2019 and 2021 the candidate was the now Minister of Children and Youth, Sira Rego (IU), while in 2014 it was Pablo Iglesias, the then Secretary General of Podemos, who presented himself.

“The group of the European left, The Left, presents this candidacy to defend a Europe of peace, committed to ending the genocide against the Palestinian people, a feminist, anti-racist, anti-fascist Europe, of rights and social justice,” he said. Monteiro: “A great consensus of war is being imposed on the peoples of Europe, just as a great coalition of austerity was imposed on us 15 years ago, from whose consequences we have not yet recovered.”

For his part, Metsola appealed for the opportunity to “dream of a future in which our power has no limits, this is what Europe means to us. My passion for the European project has not diminished. In this last session we have learned that the future is anything but predictable. Whatever comes, we will be ready to face the consequences when they come our way.”

The Maltese wanted to remember his predecessor: “Before David Sassoli passed away two and a half years ago I was here and I promised that I would pay tribute to his legacy.” Of course, unlike Sassoli, Metsola has left Tony Comin without a seat for the time being. And he added: “I will work by doubling my efforts to join forces. We must rationalise our functioning so that this Parliament becomes the political house we want it to be and continue to improve control and scrutiny powers and correct other institutional imbalances: it must become a strong Parliament, this is what the Treaties want us to be and what citizens want, parliamentarism must be reinforced.