- In Italy it is becoming increasingly clear that Sergio Mattarella could remain president.
- The 80-year-old had made himself available for a second term, South Tyrolean Senator Julia Unterberger explained to journalists when she left Mattarella’s office.
- Parties such as the right-wing Lega, the Social Democrats and the conservative Forza Italia had previously agreed to vote for the Sicilian.
- The eighth ballot is currently underway.
Mattarella complied with the request of the overwhelming majority of political parties, said Regional Affairs Minister Mariastella Gelmini. After unsuccessful efforts by the electoral assembly to nominate a new head of state, several parties asked Mattarella not to withdraw as he had announced at the end of his term of office in early February.
Another round of elections has recently been held, which could bring the decision. Mattarella needs an absolute majority of the 1009 votes for re-election.
Before the election, it was said that the 80-year-old Mattarella actually does not want another term. “Keeping Mattarella in the Quirinal Palace and Draghi in Palazzo Chigi is the only way to save Italy from madness and lack of political leadership,” ex-Prime Minister Matteo Renzi wrote on Twitter.