An electronical board shows the
provisional result of the European Parliament elections at the European
Parliament building in Brussels, capital of Belgium, June 7, 2009.
Center-left parties seem to turn out to be the biggest losers in the
European Parliament elections, which wrapped up on Sunday across the
continent, while the center-right group will return as the biggest bloc.
(Xinhua/Wu Wei) Photo
Gallery>>>
BRUSSELS, June 7 (Xinhua) -- Center-left parties seem
to turn out to be the biggest losers in the European Parliament elections, which
wrapped up on Sunday across the continent, while the center-right group will
return as the biggest bloc.
The European People's Party and European Democrats
(EPP-ED), the center-right political group, will win between 263 and 273 seats
in the new chamber, provisional results released by the European Parliament
show.
The EPP-ED won 282 seats in the 785-seat house in
2004. The number of seats in the 2009 assembly is reduced to 736.
The Socialist Group in the European Parliament (PSE),
the major center-left force, will take only between 155 and 165 seats, compared
to 203 seats in 2004.
Statues are seen in front of a screen
poster of European Parliament elections in Brussels, Belgium, June 7,
2009. EU member countries like Belgium, Germany, France and Poland held EP
elections Sunday, the last day of the 7th EP elections. Preliminary
figures showed a historical low voters' turnout during the elections.
(Xinhua/Wu Wei) Photo Gallery>>>
The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
(ALDE) will remain in the third place with 78 to 84 seats. The group won 86
seats in the 2004 elections.
The right-wing Union for Europe of the Nations is
winning handsomely with 33 to 37 seats in the new parliament, probably due to
the record low voter turnout of only 43 percent. The group won only 23 seats in
the 2004 elections.
The left-wing European United Left -- Nordic Green
Left is expected to remain stable while the Greens bloc will gain.
The Independence/Democracy Group, a bloc of
euroskeptic and eurorealist political parties, is suffering big losses. The
group will get only 15 to 19 seats, compared to 36 in 2004.
Voters from 19 of the 27 European Union (EU) nations
-- including France, Germany, Italy and Spain -- cast ballots on Sunday, the
final day of the elections. British and Dutch voters were the first to go to the
polls on Thursday.
BRUSSELS, June 7 (Xinhua) -- Voter turnout in European
Parliament elections, which wrapped up on Sunday across the European Union (EU),
may hit a record low, first election results show.
Voter turnout in the 2009 elections is 43.39 percent,
according to provisional results released by the European Parliament on Sunday
night. The 2009 rate is lower than the 45.47 percent in 2004, which was also a
record low at the time. Full story
BERLIN, June 7
(Xinhua) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives took a clear lead in
Sunday's European parliament election over its main competitor Social Democrats
(SPD), according to the early projections of local media.
Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) and its Bavarian allies
got 38.4 percent of votes, ARD public television reported. Although it was much
lower compared with the 44.5 percent at the last European parliament election in
2004, it still led its main competitor Social Democrats (SPD) quite a lot, which
only got 21.1 percent of votes, a historic low for the center-left party. Full story
HELSINKI, June 7 (Xinhua) -- Finland's three largest parties all lost a seat in
the European Parliament in Sunday's elections.
Both the National Coalition party and the Center Party had
to make do with three seats, down from their previous four. The Social
Democratic Party also lost one of its three seats, settling for two in the
European Parliament's next term. Full story
STOCKHOLM, June 7 (Xinhua) -- Sweden's main
opposition Social Democrats retained its position as the biggest winner in
Sunday's European Parliament elections, according to preliminary results.
The party garnered 24.5 percent of votes, the same as the
previous elections, the Swedish public broadcaster SVT reported. Full story
BUDAPEST, June 7 (Xinhua) -- Hungary's main
opposition party Fidesz won 14 seats or 56.37 percent of votes in Sunday's
European Parliament elections, the National Election Committee announced Sunday
night.
The governing Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) only won
four seats with 17.37 percent of votes. Movement for a Better Hungary (Jobbik),
which is considered a radical nationalist party, won three seats or 14.77
percent of votes. Hungarian Democratic Forum (MDF) got one seat or 5.3 percent
of votes. Full story
MOSCOW, June 8
(Xinhua) -- Estonia has acquired six seats in Sunday's European Parliament
elections, according to preliminary results announced by the Estonian National
Election Committee on Monday.
Five candidates from four parties of Estonia and one independent
candidate have won the seats among a total of 101 candidates, the committee
said. Full story
