ITALY-PRESIDENT/VOTE-PREVIEW Italy presidential vote to test Renzi government's stability

Record ID: 328428

  • Title: ITALY-PRESIDENT/VOTE-PREVIEW Italy presidential vote to test Renzi government's stability
  • Date: 29th January 2015
  • Summary: ROME, ITALY (JANUARY 29, 2015) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF ITALY'S QUIRINALE PRESIDENTIAL PALACE STATUE AND FLAGS OUTSIDE PRESIDENTIAL PALACE EXTERIOR OF PRESIDENTIAL PALACE
  • Embargoed: 13th February 2015 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Italy
  • Country: Italy
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA1H66EJXPGUTYGJM2Z65E758SG
  • Story Text: The unity of Italian Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi's party and the strength of his alliance on reforms with opposition rival Silvio Berlusconi face a test on Thursday (January 29), with a parliamentary vote to choose a new president.
    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 1009 parliamentarians and regional officials will hold a first round of voting at 3 p.m. (1400 GMT). A president is not likely to emerge from the first vote, when a two-thirds majority is needed, but in the fourth or fifth round - probably on Saturday (January 31) - when only a simple majority is required.
    A political analyst from Rome's Luiss-Guido Carli university said it was a complicated process.
    "Renzi would like to have a not particularly important figure, someone that will not overshadow him, whereas all the others would like a figure that is prestigious, relevant and that can keep Renzi in check. So this is the struggle that is taking place and this is why it is so complicated. This election is so complicated because there are left-right elements but also this element of whether it's going to be a person that can control Renzi. This is the game that Renzi is playing, trying to get the president elected as soon as possible and trying to get a president that is not going to create troubles for him or limit him or overshadow him," said Giovanni Orsina.
    After two days of consultations with political factions, Renzi is said to have chosen Sergio Mattarella, a judge on Italy's constitutional court and a former defence minister for the centre-left, as his candidate, Democratic Party (PD) deputy secretary Lorenzo Guerini said late on Wednesday (January 28).
    But Berlusconi will not back Mattarella, Italian media have said. This sets up a possible showdown or opens the way for a last-minute compromise in voting by secret ballot that has shades of intrigue and unpredictability reminiscent of the papal conclaves which take place across the Tiber River.
    "If the game is not played skillfully by the players, and Renzi in the first place, then things may become more complicated. If things drag on and it takes more time, then I don't see a major political crisis. But Renzi will come out of that seriously weakened," said Orsina.
    Forty-year-old Renzi, who has been in power for less than a year, has a lot riding on the vote.
    Failure to seat a president in the fourth or fifth round would mean his authority over his party is wavering and the deal to push through institutional reforms with Berlusconi has broken down, raising the spectre of an early national election.
    Arriving for the vote, Democratic Party parliamentarian Giuseppe Romanini said his hope was to find a candidate that would satisfy the majority of parliament.
    "I hope that we won't spend too long in finding the right person who can represent the majority of the parliament and that we'll manage to finish by the fourth vote," he said.
    But many locals remain sceptical over the choice and speediness of their lawmakers.
    "Let's hope it will be like it is with the pope, that they will be enlightened and find someone other than the usual suspects. I highly doubt it, but there is still hope," said Enrico Pallotta.
    "I think it will get ugly if there is no result on Saturday morning and the vote drags on because that means that the deals they've made will be compromised and things will start stretching on. Let's hope that won't happen," Gabriele Pasca said.
    Among the other names circulating as possible presidents are Romano Prodi, a two-time prime minister and former European Commission president, Giuliano Amato, a former prime minister and finance minister, Pier Carlo Padoan, the current economy minister, and Anna Finnocchiaro, a former minister.
    Eighty-nine-year-old Giorgio Napolitano resigned as president earlier this month.
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