The final result of the battle for the Quirinale with the unexpected confirmation of Sergio Mattarella to the Presidency of the Republic redeems the mediocre performance of most of the political leaders who participated in the presidential elections without clarity of ideas and favoring partisan interests over the national interest. But it would be pure indifference to lump all the herbs together and not distinguish merits and demerits, which cannot be distributed equally.
Here then the report cards of the six main political leaders, with a dutiful premise: out of respect for his institutional role, Sergio Mattarella - like Prime Minister Mario Draghi - is out of the standings but due to his generosity and his willingness to stay at Colle he deserves the highest marks and that is a nice 10 with praise. The Prime Minister deserves the full promotion who, together with Mattarella, remains one of the most esteemed Italians in the world and helps to give prestige and credibility to our country.
So off to the report cards in alphabetical order.
Silvio Berlusconi: vote 5
More than national interest, Silvio Berlusconi's polar star in the presidential battle has always been his egocentrism, only to redeem himself in the end with the no to the Salvini-Conte axis on the candidacy of the director of the secret services and with the green light for the reconfirmation of Mattarella at the Quirinale. You have wasted precious days before the start of the presidential elections with your unsustainability self-candidacy which, coming from a party leader, could only be divisive and cumbersome. His preventive veto to the hypothesis of a promotion of Draghi al Colle is also inexplicable. Despite all the limitations that do not bring him to the point, Berlusconi has shown himself to be the most lucid of the leaders of his consortium and has not hesitated to make choices that have contributed to destroying the center-right coalition.
Giuseppe Conte: vote 4
It was once again the champion of ambiguity playing on the side with Matteo Salvini more than with Enrico Letta who, not surprisingly, came to ask him: "Giuseppe, but can I still trust you?". And, if there hadn't been the peremptory halt of the grillino minister, Luigi Di Maio, which suggests the future showdown between the Five Stars, Conte - in agreement with Salvini as in the old days - would have messed up to promote a very good civil servant, but still the director of Intelligence like Belloni as Head of State. His too is inexplicable prejudicial hostility to the promotion of Draghi at the Colle. Rejection, therefore, across the board: perhaps politics is not his job.
Enrico Letta: vote 6
He was not the kingmaker and preferred play throw-in, also because he has a deeply divided party like the Democratic Party behind him, but in the end he brought home the most welcome result with the reconfirmation of Mattarella al Colle which until Friday seemed like a dream. Half of the Democratic Party and Renzi avoided him in extremis from falling into the trap imagined by Salvini and Conte to nominate Belloni for the Quirinale. There reconciliation with the leader of Italia Viva, who has proved to be a reliable partner, and Conte's ambiguities should have opened his eyes also in view of the new electoral law which, albeit half-heartedly, admits that it can be proportional.
Giorgia Meloni: vote 4
He always played break ea give the back to the government hoping to get to early elections. The national interest in having a reliable President of the Republic and a credible premier has never been at the center of his thoughts. Of course, he leads an opposition party but there are ways and means of being in opposition. And even the final No to Mattarella's re-nomination at the Quirinale reveals his political paucity. There breakup of the centre-right he risks pushing away his dreams of one day arriving at Palazzo Chigi but for now he hasn't passed the leadership exam and his credibility comes out even more downsized by the battle for the Presidency of the Republic.
Matteo Renzi: vote 7,5
He wasn't the kingmaker like last time when, in a few bars, he broke with Berlusconi and took Sergio Mattarella to the Quirinale but he has once again revealed himself the most lucid and fastest thinking among political leaders. In spite of the propaganda of the left and of many talk shows, not only has he never sided with Salvini but he has been instrumental in sinking all the designs of the centre-right: first he buried Berlusconi's self-candidacy, then he helped to erase the dreams of Casellati denying her votes and finally blocked the way for the Salvini-Conte axis on the Belloni candidacy. He knew vary the tactical schemes but without ever betraying the center-left and rediscovering a good relationship with the secretary of the Democratic Party, Enrico Letta. He was among the first to sense that there was a window of opportunity for Mattarella's re-election and he is right to be happy with the reconfirmation on the Colle.
Matteo Salvini: vote 4
Just disastrous. He failed all the center-right leadership tests on the field by shattering his coalition and burning a lot of candidates without ever being able to build consensus around them. He broke with Meloni, disappointed Berlusconi and marginalized Giorgetti in the League, where it is not excluded that a showdown will soon be reached on the push of the regional governors who, unlike Salvini, appreciate and support the premier Mario Draghi to whom he from the outset he wanted to block the road to the Quirinale. The green light for Mattarella's reconfirmation is not enough to redeem him.
