First of all, it was a great result for the PES in Ireland - they've now got 3 seats in the Republic, which is a surprise win, really. It puts them only one behind the EPP. ALDE have done well in Ireland too - they're up 3 to 4 MEPs, due to Fianna Fáil joining ELDR in this parliament (the other ALDE MEP is an independent that isn't an ELDR member).
For pro-Lisbonites, it was a good election, even though Lisbon wasn't really an issue, since the anti-Lisbon MEPs did quite badly. Kathy Sinnot (InDem co-leader) lost her seat in Ireland South - online glee here (http://stephenspillane.com/blog/index.php/2009/06/ding-dong-the-witch-is-dead/) - and Mary Lou McDonald (SF/GUE-NGL) lost her Dublin seat. Though Joe Higgins (Socialist) is equally as anti-Lisbon as MLM, her scalp is of higher value given her prominence in the Lisbon I campaign.
Of course, the failure of Ganley to win a seat is the clearest victory. He had called for a recount (during his appearance on the BBC he made out as if the officials had spotted a problem and called for a recount rather than him being the one to demand it), and the result of this has produced my favourite line of the elections:
"However, that recheck found that Mr Ganley had been awarded 3,000 extra votes in error."
Around Europe, Libertas were defeated left, right and centre - they've only managed 1 of their desired 100 seats, and that was de Villiers in France, who was an outgoing MEP, and likely to have been re-elected simply on the local support he had there, rather than on the strength of the Libertas brand.
Which group do you see Joe Higgins joining? Im told possible GUE?
ReplyDeleteI would guess GUE or No Group. Since GUE are quite eurosceptic and left-wing I don't see any problems in him joining.
ReplyDeleteI wasnt sure if he was going to join GUE as thats Sinn Feins Group.
ReplyDeleteIm not sure if Harkin will stay in ALDE now that Fianna Fail are in it. She might move groups to be seen distant from them so that she will get re-elected again.
Really? Maybe she'll move to the EPP (I have the impression that she's conservative - isn't she anti-abortion?).
ReplyDeleteI can't see her joining EPP as thats FG's group. She is anti-abortion so she might join the new conservative grouping?? But she could be too pro-eu for them!
ReplyDeleteLooks like a hard decision for her - still, she might stay where she is (EDP). Even if she's in the same overall grouping as FF, she can say (and has been saying) that she's not part of the same European party as them. She topped the poll so she might be happy to stay put.
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