In the end it is Mattarella bis, at 20.19 the outgoing Head of State reaches the quorum of 505 votes and is re-elected - to the thunderous applause of the Montecitorio Chamber which lasted a good 4 minutes - to the Presidency of the Republic for a new mandate that will expire in 2029. After having consumed dozens of names among politicians, technicians, public officials, the parties find an agreement on the outgoing Head of State, re-elected with 759 votes.
The eighth vote is the good one, after the seventh too had failed in the morning and had seen the consensus for Mattarella grow further, reaching 380.
These are the definitive results: in addition to the 759 votes for Mattarella, there are 90 for Carlo Nordio (the choice of the Brothers of Italy, which goes well beyond the 63 great voters of the party), 37 for Nino Di Matteo chosen by Alternativa C'e , the component of the former M5S Mixed Group, 9 for Silvio Berlusconi, 6 for Elisabetta Belloni, 5 for Mario Draghi and Pier Ferdinando Casini, 4 for Elisabetta Casellati, 2 for Sabino Cassese, Marcello Pera, Gaincarlo Giorgetti, Primo De Nicola and Filippo Grassia (Rai sports commentator). The missing votes are 18, the blank ballots 25, the void 13.
Sergio Mattarella, who obtained 665 votes in 2015, thus becomes the second most voted President after Sandro Pertini, who was elected with 832 votes.
WORDS OF MATTARELLA - After having read the results and proclaimed the election Roberto Fico together with Elisabetta Casellati went up to the Quirinale to communicate the results of the vote to Mattarella and hand him the minutes of the session.
Then a very brief speech by the Head of State: "I thank the parliamentarians and delegates of the Regions for their trust. These difficult days, in the course of a serious health, economic and social emergency that we are going through, call for a sense of responsibility and respect for the decisions of the Parliament. These conditions require us not to shy away with the commitment to interpret the expectations and hopes of our citizens. These considerations must prevail over other considerations and different personal perspectives, with the commitment to interpret the expectations and hopes of our fellow citizens " .
DRAGHI - "The re-election of Sergio Mattarella to the Presidency of the Republic is splendid news for Italians. I am grateful to the President for his choice to support the very strong will of Parliament to re-elect him for a second term", commented the Prime Minister Mario Dragons.
THE PONTIFF - Pope Francis too writes a congratulatory message to Mattarella: "I wish to extend my cordial congratulations on his re-election to the supreme office of the Italian Republic and express my best wishes for the performance of his high task, which he welcomed with a spirit of generous availability ", we read. The Pope assures the president of his prayers "that he may continue to support the dear Italian people in building an ever more fraternal coexistence and encouraging them to face the future with hope".
THE FILM OF THE DAY - Already in the night the flop of the re-edition of the yellow-green axis is certified on the name of Elisabetta Belloni, head of the secret services immediately torpedoed by Matteo Renzi, by Forza Italia and finally also by the Democratic Party (even if Salvini says that the name it was proposed to him "by Letta and Conte").
In the morning the same Count leaves the meeting with Salvini, Letta and Tajani, which is suspended. All the parties understand that the only possible convergence is on Mattarella, Casini himself - among the eligible candidates - warns almost to get out: "My name only if it unites".
Draghi telephones the Head of State and asks him to stay "for the good of the country", the same request made a year ago in reverse. Then the Prime Minister, having received the assurances, hears Salvini, who immediately announces to the media: "There is an agreement on the Mattarella bis, Draghi remains in the government".
All satisfied, apart from Meloni who attacks Salvini and considers re-election a "constitutional forcing". Brothers of Italy votes for former magistrate Carlo Nordio, one of the three names in the initial squad of the center-right.
“I HAD OTHER PLANS” - In the early afternoon the parade of the majority group leaders starts at Colle to ask Mattarella to accept the encore. Even the presidents of the regions, including Solinas, are asking the head of state to stay.
"I had other commitments, but I'm available. I thought my mandate was over, but I've always been respectful of Parliament", Mattarella's words to the group leaders. The Head of State would have asked the parties to guarantee the stability of the Draghi government. to 2023, the year of the new political elections.
The exception of Napolitano, who, moreover, resigned just one year after the beginning of the second term, thus becomes a rule. For the second time in history the President of the Republic is re-elected.
Mattarella had repeatedly rejected the hypothesis of an encore: “In a few days my mandate as President will end, because this is what the Constitution provides,” he said in the last speech at the end of the year. In recent days he has also published the photos of the move on social media, he has to take back all his personal effects and bring them back to the highest hill.
(Unioneonline / L)
