(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) British Conservative MEP, Sajjad Karim, on Wednesday criticized the recent European Parliament Presidential elections in which Martin Schulz was re-elected EP President, as a "democratic sham " and a "stitch-up." Speaking in an EP debate in Strasbourg today, Karim, who came second in the EP Presidential race, said he campaigned on a "platform of reform and transparency." Schulz, a Socialist MEP from the Parliament's second largest political group, received 409 votes after his group supported Jean-Claude Juncker to be the next president of the European Commission



Juncker's political group, the European People's Party, and the Liberals political group backed Schulz "in a private deal negotiated behind closed doors," said Karim who is of Pakistani origin



Karim got 101 votes in the EP elections for the President, 31 votes coming from outside of his political group



He said, "back room deals have kept the old status quo together behind a single candidate to keep reform at bay. Instead of grasping this opportunity to move forward, the European Parliament has taken two steps back." "The European Parliament has failed to heed the calls of the electorate who were asking for change. Instead we give them more of the same and carry on as usual with the same old faces," he added