Parliament re-elects Sergio Mattarella as president of Italy

The Italian President Sergio Mattarella He was re-elected this Saturday by the Parliament, after a marathon of votes revealing the divisions of the governing coalition in a crucial period of post-pandemic economic recovery.

Mattarella, 80 years old, was re-elected for a term of seven years, reaching a large majority of 759 votes out of a total of 1,009 senators, delegates and regional leaders who qualified to vote.

The re-election of Mattarella guarantees a phase of political stability, and also ensures the retention of the Prime Minister in office, Mario Draghi, who at one point was among the favorites for the presidency.

The possible transfer of Draghi after the presidency would have unleashed a political crisis given the need to find another head of government supported by the same broad coalition currently supporting him, which includes all parties with parliamentary benches except the far right of the Brothers of Italy.

“This is great news for Italians,” he responded. Draghi.

The political parties could not agree on an alternative candidacy during the first seven rounds of voting that began on January 24th.

Mattarella, who is ending his first term on February 3, has on several occasions assured that he does not want to be re-elected for another term of seven years, but this Saturday he declared at the request of the parties that he accepted it before the blockade. . in Parliament to appoint his successor.

“Circumstances forced him to accept given the inability of the parties,” explains Massimo Franco, an editorial writer of the newspaper Die Corriere della Sera.

Mattarella he will be the second head of the Italian state to be re-elected, after Giorgio Napolitano in 2013, something unusual in Italian republican history.

For Guido Cozzi, an economist at the University of St. Louis. Gallen, “is an extension of Mattarella’s mandate ideal for the financial markets.”

And with Draghi at the head of the government, the injection of European funds and the planned investments “are guaranteed for the second consecutive year,” he explained to AFP.

According to the press, Draghi met with the head of state for a long time on Saturday to persuade him to accept a new mandate “for the welfare and stability of the country.”

Although he was elected for a new term of seven years, he can resign when he sees fit.

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