Almost two days before the start of the elections on Monday in Rome, the 85-year-old made his withdrawal official. Disappointed by this defeat, Berlusconi skipped a virtual summit meeting of the centre-right parties on Saturday evening and instead had his decision read out by a fellow party member from Forza Italia.
Berlusconi was the only politician who had openly tried to succeed Sergio Mattarella at the head of state – in Italy there are actually no official candidates before the election. After Berlusconi’s departure, negotiations between the parties in Rome intensified. It was unlikely that a common cross-camp candidate would be found before the first ballot.
On Monday (3:00 p.m.) the voting of 1,009 electors begins in Rome. Among them are the members of the two chambers of parliament – the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate – as well as representatives of the regions. A two-thirds majority is required for the first three ballots. Such a result was considered very unlikely on Sunday. Because only one ballot is planned per day, no winner should be determined by Wednesday. From Thursday – and election round four – the absolute majority will suffice. Until then, it is expected that there will be a number of deals between the parties about possible candidates.
Berlusconi could then become important as a string puller and kingmaker. The financial and construction entrepreneur, media mogul and key player in Italian politics for three decades is out of the race himself. “I have decided to take a different path towards national responsibility and I ask that you refrain from proposing my name as President of the Republic,” Berlusconi said. “I will serve my country in a different way.”
He had recently tried intensively to convince enough electors of himself. In a campaign (“Operation Squirrel”), the multimillionaire and his helpers have been on the phone with a number of politicians from other parties for weeks – apparently without success.
In his statement, Berlusconi generously claimed that he would not run, even though he had secured the necessary votes from 505 of the 1,009 electors. But that can be strongly doubted. Political experts and his helpers recently indicated that Berlusconi was up to 100 voters short.
For Berlusconi, who was prime minister four times, but also attracted attention primarily through scandals and criminal cases and is still on trial in connection with the so-called “bunga bunga parties”, an election as president would have been a belated satisfaction.
According to media reports, family members had advised him to take a step back, also because of his health. After a heart operation in 2016 and a corona infection in 2020, the politician called “Cavaliere” (knight) is regularly under medical treatment.
Now other candidates are coming into focus, such as Pier Ferdinando Casini as a senator and former President of the Chamber of Deputies, the constitutional judge and ex-Prime Minister Giuliano Amato or Maria Elisabetta Casellati, the current Chairwoman of the Senate.
Prime Minister Mario Draghi was last seen as the favourite, even though Berlusconi’s statement called for the head of government to remain in office until the end of the legislative period. If the former head of the ECB takes over the presidency, there is a risk of new parliamentary elections and a temporary halt to reforms. The haggling for the highest office in the state is picking up speed.