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The first parliamentary vote to elect the new president of Italy, replacing Sergio Mattarella, who ends his term on February 3, ended without the necessary quorum of two thirds of the votes. In view of the lack of convincing proposals, most parties opted for a blank vote. The option of Mario Draghi grows, who, for this, should leave the presidency of the Council of Ministers.
Italy is involved in one of its most important elections at the national level. This is the parliamentary vote to elect the next president of the transalpine republic for the next seven years to replace Sergio Mattarella, who ends his term on February 3.
A total of 1,008 voters between deputies, senators and regional delegates were called to vote. There will be 1,009 from the second vote, once the deputy of Forza Italia, Rossella Sessa, replaces the recently deceased Enzo Fasano, from the same party. In this first ballot there was a total of 976 votes, of which 672 were blank.
The lack of consensus on a candidate to occupy the presidency led to leaving the ballot without a name to the majority of parties. It is not, however, a strange development in this type of voting. Since it is a vote without official candidates, the first votes are often used to prolong negotiations between political parties to find a candidate with a broad consensus.
In the first three ballots, moreover, two-thirds of the votes cast are needed for a candidate to be elected. From the fourth, half plus one of the votes is enough, in an election that can be extended ad infinitum. Matteo Salvini, leader of the far-right League, confirmed that a “dialogue” has been opened with the center-left Democratic Party to choose a candidate.
The name of Mario Draghi is consolidated as a consensus option
Salvini claimed to be “working so that in the next few hours the united right offers not one, but several quality proposals.” Letta, for his part, has been one of the main defenders in recent days of the former president of the World Bank and current president of the Government, Mario Draghi, as a candidate.
Draghi has not shown his official willingness as a candidate, although he hinted at this possibility in December. His profile, of a certain consensus in Italian society, would, however, pose a problem for the country’s political landscape.
It would be the first time that a President of the Government jumps to the Presidency of the Republic and he would do so leaving aside a unity government, which has proposed far-reaching changes in Italy thanks to the 200,000 million euros of European funds. For this, it would be necessary to look for a new president of the Council of Ministers or go to new elections.
For this reason, another option also sounds within the gossip of Italian politics. It is about the option of Mattarella extending his mandate long enough to give Draghi enough space to carry out the reforms or finish the legislature.
A very tight choice
The election process has not been without controversy. Last Saturday, former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi withdrew his official candidacy for the Presidency of the Republic. Berlusconi had tried with every effort to end his political life at the top, but his old controversies and the trials he still has pending made it impossible.
Even his two main partners, Matteo Salvini (League) and Giorgia Meloni (Brothers of Italy) were not convinced that a man who creates so much rejection in much of Italian society was the most suitable figure for the position. Berlusconi, true to form, left a clear mandate to his acolytes: he will not support Draghi’s candidacy.
Whoever the favorite candidate is, once the right presents their names, the vote is expected to be very tight. The right and the extreme right have 454 voters. The left and center-left bloc has 405. Former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and his 50 electors could hold the key to the future election.
With EFE and local media.
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