Ah, those Italians! Italy’s parliament spent last week trying and failing to elect a new president in seven secret ballots. Then, in the eighth ballot on Saturday evening, by a huge majority it re-elected the old one – Sergio Mattarella – against his will.
Mattarella, 80, formerly of the post-communist Partito Democratico (PD) and now an independent, had repeatedly said he did not want to serve a second seven-year term. He had even moved out of the Quirinale – the presidential palace – and into a flat elsewhere in Rome.
He was not actually a candidate because there are no formal candidates in an election for an Italian president whose powers, though limited, are often of crucial importance. The electorate – in this case, 951 senators and deputies and 58 regional delegates – simply votes for whoever they want as president by writing their name on a ballot paper. Those voted for are, though, usually asked beforehand if they mind.
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