The European Parliament dismisses the vice president Eva Kaili, accused of corruption

BRUSELAS, 13 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The plenary session of the European Parliament has approved this Tuesday the dismissal as vice president of the Chamber of the Greek socialist Eva Kaili, arrested in Belgium for her alleged involvement in a corruption plot that involves the payment of bribes by Qatar to gain influence in the political and economic decision-making in the European institution.

The measure has been supported by a vast majority of MEPs in the plenary session of Strasbourg (France), where the decision to strip Kaili of the post of vice-president has been approved with 625 votes in favor of the 628 expressed, with only one vote against and two abstentions.

Once dismissed, it is also up to the plenary to decide who will take over in a second vote whose date is yet to be determined, although it is assumed that he will also be a MEP from the Social Democratic family to respect the balance negotiated when the 14 vice-presidencies were appointed. .

According to the rules of the European Parliament, the dismissal of any of its fourteen vice-presidents must be carried out following a two-phase process and which includes article 21 of the institution's operating regulations.

The first step was completed early this Tuesday by the group leaders of all the groups represented in the Eurocámar by agreeing "unanimously" in an extraordinary meeting of the Conference of Presidents to request the removal of the socialist vice president from the Chamber Greek.

The dismissal later required the majority support of two thirds of the votes expressed in the plenary session. The president of the Eurocámara, Roberta Metsola, already decided over the weekend to immediately suspend all powers, duties and representation functions as president, but she could not proceed with her dismissal because this is a power that belongs exclusively to the plenary of the Eurochamber.

However, this decision does not prevent Kaili from continuing to occupy her seat as an MEP despite being detained, pending her appearance in court this Wednesday. The parliamentary immunity that protects MEPs, however, did not prevent her arrest over the weekend because such protection is suspended if the authorities act before a "flagrant crime".

Since last Friday, the Belgian Police have carried out about twenty searches, mainly in offices of the European Parliament headquarters in Brussels but also in the homes of several MEPs. At Kaili's home, the authorities seized some 600,000 euros in cash, found "several hundred thousand euros" in the suitcase of the father of the Greek socialist in a hotel in the European capital and another 150,000 euros in the accommodation of a third person.

After confirming that Kaili was one of those investigated within the framework of the operation against corruption, money laundering and a criminal organization opened by the Belgian authorities, her party in Greece, PASOK, announced her expulsion, for which reason as of this Monday occupies a seat as a "Not Registered" MEP.