The seventh vote could be the right one. Matteo Salvini and Giuseppe Conte, after a three-way meeting also attended by Enrico Letta, announced negotiations on a female president. The name would be that of Elisabetta Belloni, current head of Italian intelligence.
As expected, it arrived today the long-awaited breakthrough, which started with the debacle registered by the center-right in the fifth vote which saw the candidacy of the President of the Senate Elisabetta Casellati fail hopelessly under sniper fire.
A fall that made noise, both because it had the second office of the state as the protagonist, and because for the coalition formed by Forza Italia, the Brothers of Italy and the League it turned into a boomerang.
Quirinale, the agreement is close
In the afternoon, while the sixth vote for the election of the President of the Republic was still in progress, Enrico Letta, Matteo Salvini and Giuseppe Conte finally sitting at a table, trying to find a shared solution to a stalemate that on both sides was in danger of becoming increasingly embarrassing. The three would be close to an agreement on Elizabeth Belloni, for seven months at the head of Italian intelligence who has already received the endorsement of the Brothers of Italy and would also be appreciated by the League and the 5 Star Movement. A part of the Democratic Party is also in favour, within which, however, there would be some perplexity relating precisely to the position currently held by Belloni as head of the secret services. Contrariness has instead been expressed in recent days by Forza Italia and Italia Viva.
“I'm working for a good female president. I am working for a union of intentions and votes and for it to close tomorrow”, said Matteo Salvini, leaving the Chamber.
"You are unleashed on the divisions from the M5S, I have always said from the beginning that the evaluations are made in the end, the talk is carried away by the wind: you will see that the 5 Star Movement will be the most compact force, especially if we manage to bring tAll political forces towards a female President“, confirmed Giuseppe Conte, speaking to journalists.
The secretary of the Democratic Party, Enrico Letta, was more cautious: “This so fragmented Parliament can only express a president or a president who is the object of a broad understanding", Letta told SkyTg24 after the first summit between the parties. “I don't know if tomorrow is the good day. We try to be as quick and efficient as possible: everyone is a minority but it is important that there is an understanding within the majority that supports the government, which can be even broader”. ”We are ready to discuss even all night long, but it is not easy. The important thing is that everyone understands that we must all emerge victorious from this match, there can't be just one winner,” concluded Letta.
Two other names remain in the background: that of Premier Mario Draghi and that of the current head of state Sergio Mattarella.
On the possible second term of the outgoing President, however, the road seems impervious. As happened with former President Napolitano, in fact, in order to keep Mattarella at the Quirinale, the leaders of all parties - including the opposition - would have to go on pilgrimage to the Head of State, asking him for "a sacrifice" which he has repeatedly stated he does not want Do.
La Dragons card – who met Salvini again today – still remains on the table, but brings with it a government crisis on which the parties should find a preventive agreement before the seventh vote. Furthermore, there continues to be strong opposition to the current Premier from the leader of the M5S Giuseppe Conte, despite the fact that there is a very large branch in his party (which refers to the Foreign Minister, Luigi Di Maio), largely in favor of the Draghi hypothesis President of the Republic.
How did the sixth vote go?
Abstentions, blank ballots and a new one rain of votes for Sergio Mattarella. This is the summary of the sixth vote which ended late today.
The current President of the Republic received 336 votes, a signal from below that the parliamentarians (today especially from the Pd and M5S) sent to party leaders as early as Monday and which gained more and more strength during the voting. Magistrate Nino Di Matteo obtained 41 votes, 9 preferences for Pier Ferdinando Casini, 8 for Luigi Manconi, 5 for Premier Draghi. 106 blank ballots, 443 abstentions from the centre-right.
We start again tomorrow, Saturday 28 January, at 9.30 for the seventh vote.