We are the third economic power on the continent (the second manufacturing), founding members of the European Union, members of the G7 and NATO. Italy is a pillar of the Atlantic Alliance in the Mediterranean and in central Europe. By force of circumstances, therefore, the election of the President of the Republic, supreme regulator of constitutional life and guarantor of placement in the right western "side", affects not only internal politics but also western diplomacy (Washington) and the European establishment. Marco Follini, a Christian Democrat with a past that saw him as Deputy Prime Minister in second Berlusconi government, belongs to the latest generation of Catholics involved in politics who have played a leading role in the country's public life.
Follini, where are we in the mediation between the parties for the election of the new President of the Republic?
“We are perilously close, as sailors would say, to a perfect storm. It is a situation of almost total incommunicability. Above all, someone's willingness to put some points to their advantage emerges ».
Does such a situation have a historical precedent? From De Nicola onwards, the choice for the Quirinale has not always been all downhill.
«The choice of the head of state has always been a source of conflict between the parties, but those of the past were strong, they could divide and wage war and the day after the election they were still at the center of the political scene. Today the President of the Republic exercises a very strong substitute, he is the true deus ex machina of national political life ».
Unless the leaders are hiding a system deal, it all looks like it's on the high seas.
«After months of debate it is disarming to see politics arriving on the eve of the vote completely in the dark. In these cases we slip forward in time by inertia, three empty votes and then from the fourth something will happen ».
In this Third Republic of weak powers who is the real king maker?
“I don't see anyone able to deal. It is a matter of understanding whether the party leaders want to make a count or a sum. In the first case, the parliamentarians add up and mathematics will decide sooner or later, in the second case, instead, it is a matter of finding a broad political agreement for a shared figure, as happened for Sergio Mattarella. We need a "balanced disarmament" that leads to a transversal name, a referee and not a player».
The hypotheses that really have any chance what names predict and what political consequences will they bring?
«If you go into a jagged scenario where everyone is looking for a small marginal utility, all eligible candidates have a chance. It is useless to get around it: with the parties having less and less power, the Quirinale becomes strategic, the center of everything. Even if he has made it clear in every way that he does not want to stay, I would still try to ascertain if there is a glimmer of opportunity for Mattarella's re-election. A situation like this, however emergency, needs its institutional prestige. If there are no margins, we should converge on Mario Draghi ».
Besides internal politics, who maintains any interest in at least participating in the reasoning for the election of the President of the Republic?
«Many forces claim to have a say in the matter. The economic and entrepreneurial establishment, for example, has always made its weight felt, and it's not a scandal. The choice of the President of the Italian Republic affects the entire international community. The political signals we give "outside" are important. Choosing a personality with strong Atlantic and European ties is certainly a wise choice».
So from the US State Department is anyone still asking for some updates?
«It has always been done. The parliamentary groups must find a pro-Atlantic pro-European not to do the powers that be a favor but to do Italy a favor. And its rightful place in the world. Fanfani's emissaries who spoke with the Soviet ambassador in Italy to try to grab the votes of the PCI accentuated the distrust of the parliamentary circles that should have voted for him. These arguments have always counted and still count.
Instead from the Secretariat of State?
«It seems to me that the Vatican and the CEI do not have a particularly interested attention. There is certainly a wish to dialogue with a president of any political background. On the other hand, the phase in which political Catholicism had a direct link with the hierarchies has long since ended».
Does big European politics send any signal? In moments of total disarray in Italian politics, the Quirinale has always been an interlocutor of total reliability.
"Europe trusts that this legislature, born on the wave of populism, has overcome the flood wave of sovereignty".
