Sergio Mattarella has been re-elected Italy’s head of state. The 80-year-old Sicilian received 759 out of a possible 1,009 votes in the eighth round of voting on Saturday, well above the absolute majority required, according to the President of the Chamber of Deputies, Robert Fico. Before the presidential election, it was unclear whether Mattarella would serve a second seven-year term. Only in the course of the election, which has been dragging on since Monday, did Mattarella’s re-election come into question as a possible way out for the parties; before that, the parties had been unable to agree on a candidate for a long time.
Mattarella himself initially did not comment publicly on his plans. Before taking office for the second time, the 80-year-old still has to take the oath on the constitution. His current term ends on February 3rd. According to media reports, he could then be sworn in.
Berlusconi pledges support
South Tyrolean Senator Julia Unterberger told journalists before the eighth ballot that Mattarella had agreed to take over the presidency again. “I hope that the President agrees to renew his availability to lead our country,” said Minister for Relations with Parliament Federico D’Incà. “I spoke to the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, on the phone. I have assured him of the support of Forza Italia for his re-election,” wrote former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Twitter.
According to media reports, the incumbent Prime Minister Mario Draghi also spoke to Mattarella before the vote. Former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi saw Mattarella’s election as the only way to protect Italy from political madness. Before the ballot, Giorgia Meloni of the far-right opposition party Fratelli d’Italia (Brothers of Italy) was stunned that the other parties had asked Mattarella for a second term. “I can’t believe this,” she tweeted.
Mattarella was considered popular during his previous tenure – both with many citizens and in politics. In Italy, the President has important powers. He can dissolve the chambers of parliament, he signs laws and appoints ministers – which means he can prevent them too. He can also set issues for Parliament to deal with.
Italy threatened to sink into political chaos in this year’s presidential election. Since Monday, Matteo Salvini’s right-wing Lega in particular has proposed several candidates, but none of them met with approval, particularly in the centre-left camp. On Friday evening, the Five Star Movement, the Lega and the Social Democrats of the Partito Democratico indicated that they were in favor of a woman. This was no longer the case on Saturday.
Previously, Maria Elisabetta Casellati, the incumbent President of the Senate – the smaller of the two parliamentary chambers in Italy – failed in the fifth round of voting. The conservative Forza Italia politician only received 382 votes. According to observers, the result indicated that the center-right camp to which she belongs, which actually had significantly more votes on paper, did not agree on her candidacy.
After Mattarella’s election, cheers erupted in the Chamber of Deputies. “I am grateful to the President for his decision to respond to Parliament’s very strong will to re-elect him for a second term,” said Prime Minister Mario Draghi. Numerous top politicians congratulated on Twitter on the election victory, including EU Council President Charles Michel.
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