First round of voting for Italian President inconclusive

Giorgia Meloni and Enrico Letta cast blank votes in the first round

 ROME – The first round of voting for the next President of Italy resulted in no on being elected, with the same outcome expected for Tuesday's vote, political sources said.

 The Democratic Party, the alternative Five Star Movement, centre-right Us With Italy, right-wing Brothers of Italy and left-wing Free and Equal party all declared they would not vote for anyone in the first round, which took place Monday afternoon.

 Silvio Berlusconi announced Saturday that he would step down from the running, insisting he had enough votes to have gone through with his candidacy, but that he preferred to step aside. "I have the numbers to be elected, I step back due to national responsibility," said the highly controversial former Prime Minister. He explained that he wants to avoid "controversies or damage” to his name “that are unjustified.” In short, he was aware that his candidacy was divisive. The Forza Italia president is currently in hospital, although his doctor Alberto Zangrillo has said this is a "standard check-up," unrelated to his decision with regard to the candidacy.

 Enrico Letta, head of the Democratic Party, said on Sunday that “other centre-right names will end up like Berlusconi.”

 The centre-right Forza Italia MEP Antonio Tajani denounced this, calling it "illiberal and undemocratic to say no to centre-right candidates."

 Elio Vito, deputy of Forza Italia and former minister, wrote on Twitter that he would vote for Professor Antonio Martino, a 79-year-old economist, liberal pro-European former defence minister, calling him “an authoritative name, a non-divisive personality, which I hope will find the maximum consensus.”

 Enrico Letta said Sunday that he would ideally like Sergio Mattarella to repeat another term. This was criticised by Brothers of Italy leader Giorgia Meloni, who said, “the reconfirmation of the outgoing president cannot become a [normal] practice.”

 In total, 1,008 electors will be called to choose who will be the next President of the Republic. In the first three votes, a minimum of 672 votes will be needed to elect Sergio Mattarella's heir while, starting from the fourth round, an absolute majority or 505 votes will suffice.

 Currently it is very complicated to predict what the result of this vote for the Quirinale may be. After Berlusconi's step back, there is no official candidate among the main parties.
 New voting regulations have been put in place to be able to carry out the elections safely. There are special drive-in stations to make it possible for those who are positive with Covid-19 to vote. There have also been limits set on the number of people who can vote at one time, meaning that each session can last between five and six hours.
 

ln

 © COPYRIGHT ITALIAN INSIDER
UNAUTHORISED REPRODUCTION FORBIDDEN