January 24, 2022 2:48 pm
On January 24, voting begins to elect the new head of state. Foreign newspapers underline the climate of uncertainty regarding the name, questioning the stability of Italian institutions and the path of the reforms desired by the European Union.
“The election of the president of the republic this time is particularly uncertain because it is closely linked to the fate of the Draghi government”, writes Eric Jozsef on Release. “Mario Draghi went to government with the support of 80 percent of parliament, so he seems favored to become head of state. If it weren’t for the fact that his election would create a vacuum at the head of the executive. Many deputies and senators fear that a government crisis will lead to stalemate and early elections before the normal conclusion of the legislature, set for the spring of 2023. The prospect of a return to the polls especially frightens the parliamentarians of the 5 Star Movement, which according to the polls lost consensus “.
His The country Daniel Verdú writes that fears of early elections and the lack of a credible name proposed by the parties lead some political leaders to hope that the current head of state, Sergio Mattarella, will remain in his post for another year. In this scenario, Draghi could end his term as head of government and then be elected president of the republic after the next legislative elections. But so far Mattarella has always firmly reiterated that he has no intention of extending his stay at the Quirinale.
The Economist openly took sides against Draghi’s candidacy for the Quirinale. “Over the past year, the government has done a good job of introducing the reforms and investments necessary to absorb the funds allocated by the European Union. But if Draghi leaves the presidency of the council it would be difficult to find a successor able to hold together the coalition that supports the government, which is very heterogeneous from an ideological point of view. Admitted to succeed, a successor would hardly get support like that enjoyed by Draghi, also because the parties would begin to position themselves in view of next year’s elections, going in different directions. But there is still a lot of work to be done for the reforms. The money allocated by Europe is distributed a little at a time, like the future shares that depend on the implementation of the program on which Italy and the European Union have agreed ”.
The world reports the fears of those who think that the election of Draghi to the presidency of the republic could weaken the institutional balance. “Once at the Quirinale he would certainly be able to appoint one of the people closest to him in the current executive as head of government. After the proclamation of the republic in 1946, the head of state has always been an arbiter, who makes his role weigh in the phases of transition and the formation of governments. The rest of the time he deals little with government affairs ”. Oliver Meiler also deals with this scenario in the German newspaper Southgerman newspaper. The French daily adds that the election will be conditioned by covid-19: “A ‘drive-in’ has been installed in the parking lot of the room to allow large voters to vote positive for coronavirus and currently in isolation (there would be about twenty)”.
The British The Guardian he recalled that two thirds of the votes (out of a total of 1,009) in the first three ballots and an absolute majority (therefore 505 votes) from the fourth ballot are needed to elect the president of the republic. And he gives an account of the alternative names to Draghi that have emerged in recent days: “Pier Ferdinando Casini, a centrist senator who seems to have good relations with all political parties; Marta Cartabia, current minister of justice; Giuliano Amato, former prime minister. In the meantime, a part of the 5-star Movement is pushing to confirm Mattarella as president of the republic ”.
The financial newspaper Financial Times deals with the withdrawal from the race of Silvio Berlusconi, leader of Forza Italia: “The former premier, who was convicted of tax fraud in October 2012, said he stepped aside to allow parties to choose a less divisive candidate . In making his announcement, Berlusconi also opposed the possibility of Draghi being elected president of the republic, arguing that the current government must remain in office to carry out investment and economic reforms. Berlusconi would have taken this decision even taking into account his suboptimal state of health ”.
The German newspaper The daily newspaper writes that after Berlusconi’s step backwards, the leader of the League, Matteo Salvini, said that the candidate should come from the center-right, which is “the majority in the country and in parliament. In reality this is not the case: none of the sides reaches the majority ”.