ITALY-PRESIDENT/VOTE BEGINS Italian lawmakers begin voting to choose new president

Record ID: 328426

  • Title: ITALY-PRESIDENT/VOTE BEGINS Italian lawmakers begin voting to choose new president
  • Date: 29th January 2015
  • Summary: ROME, ITALY (JANUARY 29, 2015) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF LOWER HOUSE OF PARLIAMENT POLICE AND PHOTOGRAPHERS OUTSIDE PARLIAMENT POLICE OUTSIDE PARLIAMENT DOORS VARIOUS OF ITALIAN AND EUROPEAN UNION FLAGS OUTSIDE PARLIAMENT VARIOUS OF PARLIAMENTARIANS ENTERING BUILDING (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) SENATOR OF SILVIO BERLUSCONI'S FORZA ITALIA PARTY, FRANCO CARRARO, SAYING: "My state of mind is that of a hope that we'll manage to repair the damage done two years ago. I hope we'll be able to elect a new president by Saturday, a president who will represent the unity of Italy. Thank you." (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) PARLIAMENTARIAN FROM THE 5-STAR MOVEMENT, ROBERTO COTTI, SAYING: "We, from the 5-Star Movement, will vote for the candidate chosen by our supporters. It would be great if the other parties, too, could express their choice right from the start and not make us waste time." CHANGE OF GUARD MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT ENTERING PARLIAMENT MEMBERS PARLIAMENT APPLAUDING AND BOOING FORMER PRESIDENT GIORGIO NAPOLITANO NAPOLITANO WITH RAISED ARMS GREETING PARLIAMENTARIANS PHOTOGRAPHER'S COMPUTER SCREEN SHOWING PHOTO OF NAPOLITANO VOTING BEGINNING SENATOR, PIER FERDINANDO CASINI, WALKING INTO POLLING BOOTH VARIOUS OF MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT CASTING VOTE VOTING IN PROGRESS SPEAKERS OF LOWER AND UPPER HOUSE MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT VOTING IN PROGRESS
  • Embargoed: 13th February 2015 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Italy
  • Country: Italy
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA7Z1TGOXITL7LVA4GI4Z91JMG9
  • Story Text: Italian lawmakers began voting to choose a new president on Thursday (January 29) afternoon.
    The election will test both the unity of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's party and his alliance on reforms with opposition rival Silvio Berlusconi.
    Ahead of the vote, Renzi proposed a senior judge to be the country's next president, a move that his party welcomed, but which may strain the alliance with Berlusconi.
    Though historically a largely ceremonial figure, the Italian head of state has important powers at times of political instability, a frequent occurrence in Italy, as he or she can dissolve parliament, call elections, and pick prime ministers.
    Some 1,009 parliamentarians and regional officials started a first round of voting at 3 p.m. local time (1400 GMT), in which a candidate would need a two-thirds majority to win.
    That is unlikely to happen, but from the fourth round -- probably on Saturday (January 31) -- only a simple majority is required.
    Some of the parliamentarians arriving for the vote expressed hope that the election would not drag on for too long.
    "My state of mind is that of a hope that we'll manage to repair the damage done two years ago. I hope we'll be able to elect a new president by Saturday, a president who will represent the unity of Italy," said Franco Carraro of Berlusconi's Forza Italia party.
    "We, from the 5-Star Movement, will vote for the candidate chosen by our supporters. It would be great if the other parties, too, could express their choice right from the start and not make us waste time," 5-Star Movement parliamentarian Roberto Cotti said.
    Renzi put forward Sergio Mattarella, a constitutional court judge and a former defence minister, as the candidate for his Democratic Party (PD) at a meeting of his party's electors, who unanimously accepted the candidacy.
    Mattarella, whose brother was murdered by the Sicilian Mafia in 1980, would be "capable of guaranteeing Italy seven years of distinguished leadership," Renzi said.
    It is still unclear whether Berlusconi will back Mattarella, who is not thought to be among his favoured candidates.
    In 1990, Mattarella resigned as education minister in protest over a government decree which favoured Berlusconi's media empire.
    Since Renzi said he was not willing to select a compromise candidate, the choice of Mattarella could drive a political wedge between the two leaders whose alliance over electoral and constitutional reform has created friction in Renzi's PD.
    On paper, Renzi has the numbers to get Mattarella elected in the fourth round, but the voting is done by secret ballot and has shades of intrigue reminiscent of the papal conclaves which take place across Rome's Tiber River.
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