Agius Saliba, Attard vote against EU Commission president in far left motion

Two of the Labour Party’s three MEPs voted to oust European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen in a far-left no-confidence vote on Thursday. 

Alex Agius Saliba and Daniel Attard supported the motion that wanted to oust the EU chief’s stance over- Gaza, deregulation, social issues and the EU’s relationship with the US under President Donald Trump.  

The two PL MEPs abstained in a no-confidence motion from the EU parliament’s far right, which quoted the EU’s deals with Pfizer.  

Agius Saliba and Attard ignored the Socialist group they form part of, which directed its deputies to vote in support of Von Der Leyen.  

The Labour Party’s third MEP, Thomas Bajada, voted in favour of the EU Commission President.  The PN's MEPs, David Casa and Peter Agius, also voted in support of Von Der Leyen on both occasions.  

The Nationalist Party’s third MEP is Roberta Metsola does not vote because of her rols as European Parliament President.   

For the motion to be successful, 361 of 720 MEPs would have needed to vote against Von Der Leyen.  

The challenge brought by the far-right Patriots won support from 179 lawmakers. The one mounted by The Left got 133 votes. 

The challenges reflected mounting discontent with von der Leyen's leadership and tested the cohesion of the coalition led by her conservative European People's Party (EPP). 

Von der Leyen held up the results as evidence of continuing faith in her team, given that a wide majority of the assembly had rejected the confidence motions. 

"I deeply appreciate the strong support received today," the EU chief wrote on X, vowing her "commission will keep working closely with the European Parliament to tackle Europe's challenges". 

Von der Leyen had survived a previous far-right attempt to unseat her in July, by a slightly slimmer majority.   

In both cases, the votes opened the door for allies in von der Leyen's so-called pro-European camp to air their own grievances. 

Critics from the left and centre accuse von der Leyen -- and the broader conservative camp -- of blurring lines with the far-right and backtracking on environmental legislation. 

During a heated debate on Monday, the centrist leader Valerie Hayer warned von der Leyen, "the pro-European majority that elected you is still not functioning properly". 

Iratxe Garcia Perez of the Socialists and Democrats warned that she needed to "choose between your allies and those who are not our friends". 

 Hard-left France Unbowed lawmaker Manon Aubry and far-right Patriots group chief Jordan Bardella had both called on von der Leyen to stand down. 

But neither the socialist nor centrist blocs broke ranks with the commission chief, despite the frustrations expressed during the debate. 

The EPP, for its part, swung firmly behind her. 

Addressing lawmakers on Monday, von der Leyen had offered a more conciliatory tone than in July, when she dismissed the censure motion's backers as "extremists" and admirers of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The commission president defended her record and called for unity, stressing the challenges the bloc faces -- chief among them the war in Ukraine and the broader threat from Russia. 

 "The truth is that our adversaries are not only ready to exploit any divisions -- they are actively inciting those divisions in the first place," she said. 

The European Parliament has never succeeded in toppling a commission team. 

 The only comparable moment dates from March 1999, when the commission led by Luxembourg's Jacques Santer resigned en masse over damning corruption claims and mismanagement, rather than face a confidence vote it was set to lose.