The ALDE Party has called an extraordinary Electoral Congress to advise the ALDE Party Bureau to choose a candidate for the President of the European Commission. This congress will take place in the afternoon of the 1st February 2014, in Brussels. Liberal Democrats are the biggest delegation with the total of sixty-two votes.
There are only two declared candidates so far, Guy Verhofstadt, Leader of the ALDE Group in the European Parliament, and former Prime Minister of Belgium, and Olli Rehn, Vice President of the European Commission, and Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs, a key portfolio over the past four years. Both candidates are actively lobbying member parties for their support and, most important at this stage, public endorsement.
Readers will already be aware that Chris Davies MEP has endorsed Guy Verhofstadt, and it will be interesting to see if there is public support for Olli Rehn, seen as being more sympathetic towards the Liberal Democrat stance on Europe.
Liberal Democrat Voice will be covering the Congress, and we’ll have more news as it comes in.
* Mark Valladares is a member of the ALDE Party Council, and Liberal Democrat Voice’s Readers’ Editor.