I had to do it to get elected
The EFDD Group in the European Parliament has folded today after the resignation of Latvian member Iveta Grigule. Concerning her resignation, Ms Grigule told the secretary general of the EFDD Group that “I had to do it to get elected.” She told the General Secretary of the EFDD Group that the EPP chairman Manfred Weber and European Parliament Martin Schulz told her she must resign from the EFDD Group in order to attain the presidency of a Parliamentary delegation to Kazakstan.
In this term, EFDD Group members have been systematically excluded from their expected positions in EP delegations and chairmanships under the D’Hondt system which is the normal practice over many years.
At a delegation meeting on Kazakstan, she was presented as an EFDD candidate by an Italian member and was not opposed. It is believed she will now sit in the non-attached. UKIP leader Nigel Farage said, “It is clear that the European Parliament does not follow its long-term practice of sharing delegation and chairmanship positions in a fair manner according to the D’Hondt system. If we are correct in our understanding about the events, President Schulz would be more suited to being the president of a parliament in a banana republic. It would seem he has exceeded his role that should apply to a neutral chairman or president of a parliament. I believe this is an example of political bias on an extraordinary scale.”