As predicted, on the first day of voting for the election of the 13th President of the Republic, the white ballot ( LA GIORNATA ) wins.
In Montecitorio the ritual of the parade of the great voters is staged, which began at 15 and ended at 20. Longer times than usual, considering the necessary anti-Covid sanitation measures, while in the parking lot the positive or quarantined parliamentarians vote. The first infected to arrive, in an ambulance, is Ugo Cappellacci : "Everything took place in maximum safety", says the former president of the Sardinia Region. The situation was also made more complex by a blackout, which, however, did not compromise the scrutiny as always manual.
In the evening the counting starts: sixteen votes for Sergio Mattarella, 36 from the Mixed to the former “grillino” magistrate Paolo Maddalena, 9 to the minister Marta Cartabia. The rest are crumbs. There is no shortage, even here as per the textbook, of semi-serious tributes: ranging from Amadeus to Alberto Angela. But already after the first few minutes it is evident that non-voting prevails and the quorum is a chimera.
THE NEGOTIATIONS - The show is staged outside the seat of the Chamber of Deputies: these are hectic hours of meetings, agreements, clashes.
Matteo Salvini is spinning like a top and, thanks to his numbers in Parliament, he does not want to give up the role of "kingmaker". The leader of the League met practically everyone: Prime Minister Mario Draghi, Secretary of the Democratic Party Enrico Letta, Cinquestelle leader Giuseppe Conte (who represents the strongest parliamentary group in this election) and the president of Fratelli d'Italia Giorgia Meloni.
We try, even before having found the "plan a", to probe the "plan b": that is to have the Prime Minister go up to Colle after having identified a new government structure that everyone likes. But at the exit of the meetings the journalists only see long faces, a sign that for the moment we are still spinning around in circles and we are far from a solution. A situation that will probably remain that way at least until Thursday, when 505 votes will suffice for the name chosen.
Perhaps it is destined to remain a hope that of the secretary of the Democratic Party Letta, who last night hoped to have a white smoke in 72 hours at the most. The meeting between him and Salvini, also endorsed by Meloni ("It is good that we talk to each other"), is the most important: there is dialogue but difficulties persist over Draghi's transfer to the Quirinale. And the final word, at least for the first day, is Salvini: "I am working so that in the next few hours the united center-right offers not one but several quality proposals, women and men of high institutional and cultural profile, on which we count there is a discussion without vetoes and prejudices, which Italians do not deserve in such a delicate moment from an economic and social point of view ".
Mario Draghi is also moving, but the no comments on his never made official candidacy are even clearer: he certainly had an interview with the three leaders of Lega, Pd and M5s. The Economist editorial does not help him, which raises the bar: "Mario Draghi's attempt to become president is negative for Italy and Europe".
We leave tomorrow at 3 pm, to allow deputies to attend the funeral in Salerno of Fi's colleague Vincenzo Fasano, who died yesterday. From Wednesday, however, voting should start already in the morning, at 11.
(Unioneonline / D)
