Brussels, 15/07/2009 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 15 July, Parliament elected its five Quaestors, responsible for administrative and financial matters of direct concern to MEPs. After three rounds of voting, Parliament elected the following MEPs as Quaestors: Lidia Geringer De Oedenberg (S&D, Poland) (398 votes); Jim Higgins (EPP, Ireland) (352 votes); Astrid Lulling (EPP, Luxembourg) (306 votes); Jiøí Maštálka (GUE/NGL, Czech Republic) (293); and Bill Newton Dunn (ALDE, UK) (208).
Lidia Geringer De Oedenberg and Jim Higgins were elected after the first round, and the three others after the third round. There were three other candidates - Ria Oomen-Ruijten (EPP, NL), Francesco Enrico Speroni (EFD, Italy) and James Nicholson (ECR, UK) - who were eliminated.
When electing Quaestors, candidates must obtain an absolute majority of valid votes in the first round, a second round taking place under the same conditions if the 5 posts are not attributed after the first round of voting. A third round may also be held if posts are still available and, at this stage in the procedure, a simple majority is enough to be elected to the remaining posts. (L.C./transl.jl)