Italy’s 80-year-old president wins 2nd term
ROME — Italian President Sergio Mattarella was elected on Saturday night to a second seven-year term as the country’s head of state, ending days of political impasse by party leaders that risked eroding the nation’s credibility.
Earlier on Saturday, lawmakers entreated Mattarella, 80, who had said he didn’t want a second mandate, to change his mind and agree to re-election by lawmakers in Parliament and regional delegates.
That move followed days of fruitless efforts by political leaders to reach a consensus on another candidate.
Mattarella won in the eighth round of voting when he clinched the minimum of 505 votes needed from the eligible 1,009 Grand Electors. Applause broke out in Parliament, prompting the Chamber of Deputies president to interrupt his reading aloud of the ballots. The count then resumed, with Mattarella continuing on to win 759 votes.
Mattarella’s current term ends
Feb. 3. Ahead of the presidential election this week, Mattarella repeatedly said he doesn’t want another stint. He even rented an apartment in Rome to prepare for his move from the presidential palace atop Quirinal Hill.
But after a seventh round of balloting in six days in Parliament failed to yield any consensus on a presidential candidate, party whips and regional governors visited Mattarella at the presidential palace to solicit his willingness Saturday.
Rai state TV said Premier Mario Draghi, a nonpartisan former chief of the European Central Bank who is leading a pandemic unity government, telephoned party leaders to encourage the lobbying. Draghi had previously indicted he would be willing to move into the president’s role, but some party leaders feared that would prompt an early election.
Mattarella’s willingness to serve again “is a choice of generosity toward the country,” Democratic Party leader Enrico Letta told a news conference minutes before Saturday’s second, conclusive round of voting began.
“You don’t change a winning team,” former Premier Matteo Renzi told reporters.
Former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who heads the centerright Forza Italia party he founded, said that unity “today can only be found around the figure of President Sergio Mattarella, of whom we know we’re asking a great sacrifice.“