London, May 28: Green parties registered a big win in the European Union Elections 2019. Tally of these parties increased from 52 to 69 in the 2019 EU polls. The main centre-right and centre-left groups lost their combined majority in the 751-seat parliament in the face of a challenge by eurosceptic and nationalist forces of Marine Le Pen, Matteo Salvini and Nigel Farage -although the populist wave was less than some had predicted. European Union Says ‘No Solution’ Yet to Break Brexit Deadlock.
The European People's Party (EPP) has emerged as the largest political grouping in the international chamber with 180 seats. In 2014 elections, the EPP had bagged 217 seats. The seat share of conservatives also dipped from 76 to 59 in these elections. Meanwhile, the right-wing nationalist parties bagged 57 seats in the RU parliament.
Boosted by French President Emmanuel Macron's Renaissance Movement, the Liberal ALDE group will finish with more than 100 seats and is expected to push hard for Margrethe Vestager to win the plum European Commission presidency. European Union Elections 2019: European People's Party Leading in EU Polls.
Britain will send a large contingent of eurosceptic MEPs to a parliament they want to leave in a few months, after Farage's single-issue Brexit Party trounced mainstream parties, while Salvini's League was Italy's biggest party and Le Pen's National Rally squeaked ahead of Macron.
With the centre-left Socialists and Democrats (S&D) projected won 146 seats, down from 185, the two mainstream parties will no longer have a majority and must reach out to the liberals and greens to pass legislation -- and approve a new commission president. European Union Launches Payment Mechanism to Bypass U.S.’s Iran Sanctions.
The election to the European Union Parliament was held between May 23 and 26, 2019. As of 2018, a total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) represent more than 512 million people from 28 member states. The European Union polls are the second largest democratic exercise after the Lok Sabha polls in India. The members are elected to the European Parliament, which has been directly elected since 1979.
(With inputs from PTI)
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 28, 2019 06:23 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).