It is with a little advance that the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament announced the name of its new president: Iratxe García Pérez will lead the political group during the next legislature, after her competitor, German Udo Bullmann, the current group president, decided to withdraw his candidacy, on 17 June.
The formal election of the Spanish socialist will take on 18 June.
Two candidates had expressed interest in the position: Udo Bullmann of Germany, and the first vice-president of the Party of European socialists, former president of the parliamentary committee on women's rights, Iratxe García of Spain.
In a letter published by the Financial Times, Udo Bullmann announced, not without some bitterness, his decision to withdraw from the race before the vote the next day. He regrets that the debate and discussions conducted so far in the context of the Presidency have been limited to national considerations rather than visionary and substantive discussions.
Iratxe García, who is supported by the PSOE, the party of the Spanish interim Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, thus becomes the first Spanish woman to take up this position, her party was delighted on Twitter. She is only the third woman to chair the Socialist Group since its creation in 1953.
The S&D thus joins the EPP, Greens/EFA and Identity & Democracy as one of the groups that have elected their president (some of them several weeks ago). It now remains for the Socialists and Democrats to elect their Vice-Presidents. But rumours have it that the vote scheduled for 19 June could be postponed until later, or even next week. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)