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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

EU polls head into 2nd day with early boost for Socialists

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Brussels: Citizens in Ireland and the Czech Republic joined in the European Parliament elections on Friday, following an early boost for Socialist lead candidate Frans Timmermans, whose Dutch party came first on Thursday according to exit polls.


From Thursday through Sunday, around 418 million voters across the European Union’s 28 member states are called upon to take part in the elections, one of the world’s largest democratic exercises.


Voting started on Thursday in Britain — which was required to participate after its EU departure date was postponed — and in the Netherlands, where the Socialists won an unexpected 18.4 per cent of the vote, according to an Ipsos projection.


Timmermans, of the Netherlands, is running as the Party of European Socialists’ lead candidate, challenging Germany’s Manfred Weber of the conservative European People’s Party for the post of European Commission president.


Udo Bullmann, the head of the Socialist group in the European Parliament, expressed confidence in Timmermans, despite the party’s poor performance in opinion surveys ahead of the elections.


“In the overall European context, things look very good for us,” Bullmann said. In parliament, he noted, it is not simply about winning a narrow majority but about the ability to form alliances supporting your policies.


“I am certain that we will find an alliance for commission president Frans Timmermans,” he said.


The elections start a new political cycle in the EU, including a change of leadership at the head of its key institutions. They come at a time of soul-searching over Britain’s planned departure and threats from within and outside the bloc.


Opinion polls indicate that far-right populist parties will perform well, potentially hampering EU decision-making over the next five years.


In Ireland, the elections are expected to test Prime Minister Leo Varadkar’s centre-right Fine Gael minority government, while the Greens are expected to perform well.


Ireland is also holding a referendum to lower from five to two the number of years that couples have to live apart before being granted a divorce. This is expected to pass with a large majority, proof of how much Ireland has changed since divorce was introduced in 1995.


Voters in Cork and Limerick are further being asked whether they want directly elected mayors, with the outcome uncertain.


Polls in Ireland close at 10 pm (2100 GMT), while voting in the Czech Republic will roll into a second day on Saturday.


Turnout in EU elections has steadily declined since the first polls in 1979, and was down to 42.6 per cent in 2014.


A low turnout can boost fringe parties whose supporters tend to be more enthusiastic than mainstream voters. In the case of the Czech Republic, turnout for EU elections was only 18 per cent 2014. Ireland’s, by contrast, was 52 per cent. — dpa


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