Watson runs for European Parliament presidency[fr][de] 

Launching his campaign, Watson noted that "for too long, presidents of Parliament have been chosen through backroom deals in smoke-filled rooms. Mine will be the first ever public campaign for the presidency: in this, I hope that I will set a precedent". 

A UK Liberal Democrat who was elected to the assembly in 1994, Watson is the longest-serving group leader in European Parliament history. During his leadership, the number of ALDE parliamentarians has doubled, making the party the third-largest political group in the Parliament. "Watson's campaign might have a ripple effect on the way politics is conducted in Brussels ahead of European elections next June," one analyst, who preferred not to be named, told EurActiv. 

Explaining his decision, Watson argued that the European Parliament needs "a proper debate about the role and priorities of the next president". "This is what European democracy should be about. I hope that by going public with my campaign I will stimulate debate about the candidates and the issues, and spark a contest which will be decided on merit not convenience," the ALDE chief continued. 

Traditionally, the centre-right EPP-ED group and the Socialists, the two largest political families in the Parliament, strike a deal to alternate presidencies of the assembly between one another. Allegations to this effect are already circulating in Brussels and Strasbourg, according to some reports. In a recent interview with EurActiv, Watson said the Parliament needed an 'ideological coalition' after the EU elections to push forward for a substantial package on the economy (EurActiv 06/11/08).

Watson believes that an ideological coalition between the Liberals and one of the two major political groups, the centre-right EPP-ED or the centre-left Party of European Socialists (PES), would work better than the current system of technical agreements between the two biggest groups, which has so far only managed to reach consensus on sharing top jobs. 

At a time when confidence in the European Union is ebbing away, the Liberal leader believes that political leaders need to convince its citizens that Europe works. "Much of the last five years […], the picture to our citizens has been one of politicians and national leaders wobbling over issues that are often remote from the citizens and difficult to understand. If our citizens can see that it was the European Union that kept tanks out of Tbilisi, that it was the European Union that kept the banks in business, that it is the European Union that is capable of agreeing the necessary legislation to tackle climate change. Then I think that they are more likely to be prepared to vote and […] feel a part of and a stakeholder in a democratic process of the building of the European Union," he tod EurActiv. 

Watson, who has written to every MEP to inform them of his intentions, will next week unveil the priorities that would mark out his presidency. 

For his campaign back home, Watson has already said that he will "attempt to avoid mentioning the Lisbon Treaty, because what I want to point out to people is how action at European level is making us more able to bring criminals to justice, is making us more able to provide the economic growth that is making our citizens better off, how it is allowed us to overcome some of the difficulties citizens find when they go to travel or to marry or to buy property abroad. In other words, the individual actions at European level that have made the citizens better off," he said.