BRUSSELS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 03rd July, 2019) Four politicians are running for the position of the European Parliament's president in the upcoming Wednesday election, the legislative body said in a statement.

"Four candidates are standing to become Parliament President in tomorrow's election, scheduled to start at 09.00 [07:00 GMT]," the European Parliament said on Tuesday.

The list of the candidates includes Ska Keller (the European Free Alliance, Germany), Sira Rego (the European United Left/Nordic Green Left, Spain), David-Maria Sassoli (Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats, Italy) and Jan Zahradil (Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe, the Czech Republic).

"Electing its President is the first act of the newly constituted Parliament. The outgoing President Antonio Tajani will preside over the proceedings, assisted by eight tellers selected by lot on Tuesday at the opening of the session," the statement stressed.

The reshuffles in key EU bodies take place following the European Parliament elections, which were held on May 23-26. </s> The European Parliament will have its turn at filling a top EU post on Wednesday when lawmakers vote on a new president for the assembly.

Newly-elected MEPs, who had their inaugural session on Tuesday, will vote in a secret ballot to select a speaker for a two-and-a-half year term. To be elected, the next president will have to secure an absolute majority. Voting is likely to last for several rounds.

The vote comes on the heels of a difficult agreement reached by the EU's 28 national leaders on filling the bloc's top jobs that saw German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen nominated as the next European Commission president, although she was not a lead candidate picked by one of the blocs in Parliament.

European Council President Donald Tusk also recommended that Parliament choose a candidate from the center-left Socialists and Democrats bloc (S&D) for the first two-and-a-half year term, followed by a candidate from the center-rigth European People's Party (EPP) for the second term.

The EPP currently has the largest number of seats in Parliament, followed by the S&D — but both parties lost support in the European Parliament elections in May.

Many EU lawmakers criticized the leaders' nominations and it remains to be seen whether they will follow their recommendation in the vote on Wednesday.

Four candidates in the running

The first round of voting saw lawmakers choosing between four candidates for the European Parliament presidency.

The S&D candidate, Italian lawmaker David Sassoli, is the favorite going into the vote on Wednesday, after securing the support from the center-right EPP as well as the liberals.

He will face off against German Greens MEP Ska Keller, whose grouping in parliament made significant gains in elections in May.

Spain's Sira Rego is running on behalf of the United Left, while the European Conservatives and Reformists have put forward Czech lawmaker Jan Zahradil.

Von der Leyen is expected to travel to the French city of Strasbourg, where the European Parliament sits, in the afternoon on Wednesday to attend the session and likely try to win over support for her nomination as the head of the EU's executive arm.

MEPs will have the final say in the EU's top four jobs, as all nominees must be confirmed by the European Parliament. That vote has not been set yet, but is expected to occur in mid-July.

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The Ninth European Parliament starts its term.