The vice president and councilor for Welfare of the Lombardy Region Letizia Moratti, the former president of the Senate Marcellus Pera and the former magistrate Carlo Nordio.
These are the three names contained in the list of candidates for the Quirinale presented by the united centre-right in the early afternoon of today, Tuesday 25 January, while the second day of voting for the election of the President of the Republic was still underway, which ended again with black smoke and a rain of white ballots.
Quirinale: the great absentees
What immediately stands out in the eyes is the absence from the list of candidates of Lega, Fratelli d'Italia and Forza Italia of two heavy names: the Prime Minister Mario Draghi, who according to Matteo Salvini "is in Chigi and works well there" and the former Speaker of the Chamber, Pier Ferdinando Casini, considered by many to be a candidate who could reconcile the centre-right and the centre-left. Also out of the squad is the president of the Council of State, Franco Frattini, a name that however has already met with the veto of the Democratic Party and Italia Viva.
"We are not here to impose anything on anyone. It is a triad that we offer to the discussion hoping that there are no vetoes ”, underlined Matteo Salvini opening the press conference held together with Giorgia Meloni and Antonio Tajani. "We hope that these names will be welcomed with a desire for dialogue," said the leader of the League, adding controversially that the centre-left seems open to dialogue only on condition that the proposed names do not belong to the centre-right.
“We are not proposing party leaders, even if there is someone at this table who would have the qualifications” to be President of the Republic, Salvini said. The reference, of course, is ad Antonio Tajani, who in the minutes immediately preceding the press conference had been indicated as a possible candidate. The number one of the Carroccio also specified that not even the name of the president of the Senate is part of the list, Elisabetta Casellati who, being currently in office, in his opinion already has the dignity and status for a possible candidacy for this reason.
Giorgia Meloni instead specified that those of the center-right "they are not flag candidates“, while Antonio Tajani added: “The center-right has many figures at the disposal of the Republic who do not have a card but who are at the service of the State and the institutions and I think it is right to claim this ability and wealth of resources”.
The reaction of the centre-left
The reaction of the Pd was immediate, with the secretary Enrico Letta who, commenting on the list of candidates proposed by the centre-right, spoke of "definitely quality names” which “we will evaluate without a prejudicial spirit”.
A few hours later, at the end of a meeting between Letta himself, Giuseppe Conte and Roberto Speranza, the centre-left issued a joint statement: “We do not oppose our shortlist of names” of candidates for the Quirinale, said the three leaders, who then added: “We take note of the three formulated by the center-right which appears to be a step forward, useful for dialogue. While respecting the legitimate choices of the center-right, we do not believe that large sharing can develop on those names at this necessary moment ”, said Conte, Letta and Speranza who then proposed to the three leaders of the center-right a new meeting tomorrow in order to identify a super partes name.
In this context, it is clear how the parties are still far from finding the square on the name of the next President of the Republic. The situation could become clearer starting Thursday, when a simple majority (505 large voters out of 1009) will suffice to elect the new Head of State and the parties could therefore begin to seek a convergence on a unitary name.
(Last update: 19.36 pm on 25 January).
