Maltese MEP Roberta Metsola is closer to being appointed president of the European Parliament for the second half of the current term as incumbent David Sassoli is not seeking a renewal of his mandate, international media report.

Influential Politico reports that Sassoli will not run for re-election, and the Socialist group he forms part of will not be presenting any other candidate for the post, according to a spokesman and several Parliament officials.

“We have done a lot to enlarge the majority of Ursula von der Leyen,” Sassoli told MEPs at a meeting of his Socialists & Democrats (S&D) group, according to his spokesman. “I don’t want to destroy the European front. For that reason, I will not be available.”

The decision removes perhaps the biggest obstacle to the presidency for Maltese MEP Roberta Metsola, who is running as the candidate from the conservative European People’s Party (EPP), Parliament’s largest bloc. Previously, there was a possibility she could face opposition from Sassoli, who was believed to looking for a second term, Politico reports.

Sassoli and other S&D leaders made clear that their group would not necessarily back Metsola, the report continues. Instead, the group will try to negotiate a deal with the EPP “and condition the vote to Metsola,” one S&D official said. Socialist MEPs could also decide to vote against Metsola.

“There is a risk that the Socialists disappear from the photographs of the European institutions,” Sassoli said during the meeting. “Therefore, we need to negotiate on everything.”

MEPs are due to elect their president by secret ballot on January 17 in Strasbourg.