The President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella sends a message to the parties: he is not available for a second mandate. He does so with the elegance, calmness but above all the clarity that has always distinguished him, speaking in front of an audience of children from the Istituto Comprensivo Fiume Giallo-Scuola Primaria Geronimo Stilton in Rome: "In eight months my mandate as president ends . I am old and in a few months I will be able to rest“, Mattarella told the pupils. The hopes of those who pushed for him to accept a second mandate, in the wake of what his predecessor Giorgio Napolitano did, are therefore definitively extinguished. The parties will have to think of another figure guarantee that will take its place at the Quirinale from January 2022.
For months there had been rumors about the "pressure" of some political exponents who had indirectly invited the President to consider the possibility of carrying out a second term, an invitation returned to the sender. Seven years are enough for Mattarella. It will be up to his successor to continue the hard work undertaken to promote the post-Covid recovery. The toto-nomi has already begun and a few days ago the leader of the League, Matteo Salvini, had (not surprisingly) underlined that “If the premier Mario Draghi will present himself as a candidate for President of the Republic, we will support him wholeheartedly".
Responding to the children's questions, the President also spoke of equality and pandemic: "We are all equal. There is one sad thing that she has reminded us of this last year. And it's the pandemic. We all wear masks: children and old people like me, rich and poor, male and female. Everyone. Because this serious disease has reminded us that we are all the same. This is the foundation of equality among citizens”. “In this year we have learned once again that we depend on each other – continued Mattarella – We needed doctors, nurses, people who continue to work in the supermarket, and helping others ultimately means helping yourself. When we help each other, not only does the person who is helped receive a benefit, but also the one who helps”.
Finally, a short “lesson” on the Constitution: “The most important law is the Constitution which contains many indications: Article 2 speaks of inviolable rights; immediately after the article 3 indicates the value of equality and this is the main right. We are all equal before the law, whatever the color of the skin, the ethnicity, we are all equal”.
