The President of the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) within the European Parliament, Iratxe Garcia Perez, had summoned MEP Eva Kaili for her “ghost” vote on the LIBE committee on Qatar, however the assembly by no means came about as Kaili was arrested as a part of the Qatar scandal investigation.
A vote on the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Dwelling Affairs (LIBE) on Qatar’s visa liberalisation uncovered Kaili as she was not a member of the committee.
In the course of the earlier plenary session of the EU Home, Kaili participated within the LIBE committee and voted in favour of Qatar’s visa liberalisation.
It was the identical interval when Kaili spoke within the plenary, saying Qatar is a “frontrunner in labour rights”.
An S&D supply informed EURACTIV that Kaili was not even sitting along with her S&D group however within the again seats along with her accomplice Francesco Giorgi and two individuals who got here straight from Doha.
When the votes had been counted on the finish of the voting course of, EU lawmakers realised that there was a further vote, the certainly one of Kaili.
Then German S&D MEP Birgit Sippel (SPD), who voted in opposition to the Fee’s proposal for Qatar’s visa liberalisation, then filed an inside criticism in opposition to Kaili to the S&D chief Garcia.
A supply from Garcia’s workplace informed EURACTIV that it was the primary time that the S&D chief obtained a criticism in opposition to Kaili.
“Iratxe Garcia had scheduled a gathering within the EU Parliament in Strasbourg for Kaili to elucidate why she was current at that vote and, above all, why she participated within the voting course of”, a supply from Garcia’s workplace informed EURACTIV.
Nonetheless, the assembly by no means occurred as Kaili was arrested for the Qatar scandal.
The identical supply defined that Nikos Androulakis, the President of the Pan-Hellenic Socialist Motion (Pasok – S&D), informed Garcia after summer time that Kaili wouldn’t be a candidate for the subsequent EU elections with out elaborating additional.
One other incident that shocked socialists, in accordance with the supply, was when the Greek MEP broke the S&D line for the collection of the subsequent secretary of the European Parliament and voted in favour of the centre-right EPP candidate, Alessandro Chiocchetti.
EURACTIV Greece reported final September that after the vote, a closed-door S&D assembly came about through which socialist lawmakers lashed out at her for her place.
“We may see some bizarre strikes, however we couldn’t think about what has been revealed”, the S&D supply stated.
(Sarantis Michalopoulos | EURACTIV.com)
