Italian President Sergio Mattarella gives a speech after being re-elected by lawmakers for a second term, in Rome, Italy January 29, 2022. Italian Presidency/Paolo Giandotti/Handout via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY.
ROME 鈥� Italian head of state Sergio Mattarella was re-elected for a second term on Saturday, with party chiefs asking him to carry on after a week of fruitless, often fraught voting in parliament to choose a successor.
Relieved party chiefs thanked 80-year-old Mattarella for agreeing to remain, but the failed attempts to replace him during seven rounds of balloting have left deep scars, with potentially dangerous repercussions for political stability.
Nonetheless, financial markets are likely to react positively to the status quo, which will see Prime Minister Mario Draghi, who had made clear he hoped to become president himself, continuing as prime minister instead.
Draghi said in a statement that Mattarella鈥檚 re-election was 鈥渟plendid news for Italians,鈥� thanking him for 鈥渉is decision to go along with the extremely strong will of parliament.鈥�
Pope Francis sent the re-elected president a telegram of congratulations.
At the eighth round among more than 1,000 lawmakers and regional delegates in the Chamber of Deputies, loud and prolonged applause broke out when Mattarella passed the 505 votes needed for election.
He had previously ruled out remaining in office, but with the country鈥檚 political stability at risk he changed his mind in the face of appeals from parliamentary leaders who met him at his palace earlier in the day.
In brief comments from the palace, Mattarella said the ongoing coronavirus crisis and Italy鈥檚 difficult economic and social conditions meant he was duty bound to accept the decision of parliament.
He said that even though he had had other personal plans, he was 鈥渃ommitted to matching the expectations and hopes of the people鈥�.
In Italy鈥檚 political system, the president is a powerful figure who gets to appoint prime ministers and is often called on to resolve political crises. Governments in the euro zone鈥檚 third-largest economy survive around a year on average.
Recrimination
The leader of the center-left Democratic Party (PD) Enrico Letta, who had championed Mattarella鈥檚 re-election, spoke to reporters to express 鈥渆normous thanks 鈥� for his generous choice towards the country.鈥�
Draghi earlier called Mattarella and urged him to stay on, a political source said.
Relations among the parties in the ruling coalition have deteriorated during the election process amid mutual recrimination over the failure to find a consensus figure.
Draghi鈥檚 coalition includes the main center-left and center-right parties as well as the right-wing League, the once anti-establishment 5-Star movement and a range of smaller parties.
鈥淭he overall political backdrop has become less supportive for Draghi鈥檚 government, which is facing a daunting task in the year or so left before the next general election,鈥� said Wolfango Piccoli of political risk consultancy Teneo.
On the right, while both the League and center-right Forza Italia in the end embraced the appeal for Mattarella to continue, their ally Brothers of Italy, which has not joined them in government, denounced the behind-the-scenes maneuvering.
鈥淧arliament has shown it is not fit for Italians,鈥� said Brothers of Italy leader Giorgia Meloni in a statement.
She accused her allies of 鈥渂artering away鈥� the presidency to ensure the government remains in place until the legislature ends in 2023, and said the conservative bloc 鈥渘eeds to be re-founded.鈥�
PD chief Letta, who has emerged stronger from the week of cross-party confrontation, said 鈥渢he political landscape has changed,鈥� and some observers are forecasting changes in Draghi鈥檚 cabinet team in the near term.
Even before the deal among their leaders, lawmakers had been increasingly backing Mattarella in the daily ballots, with his tally rising to 387 in the seventh round earlier on Saturday.
In the end he got 759 votes, 94 more than at his first election in 2015 and the second highest tally for any Italian head of state after Sandro Pertini, president from 1978 to 1985.