ROME (Reuters) -The Italian parliament will convene on Jan. 24 to begin voting for a new head of state to exchange the outgoing Sergio Mattarella, the chief of the decrease home of parliament dominated on Tuesday.
The election of a new president of the republic could have main repercussions for the longer term of Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s authorities, which is attempting to include a wave of COVID-19 infections.
Draghi has made clear he would really like to turn out to be president, bringing to an finish his 11-month outdated authorities and leaving the nation with the selection of both putting in a new premier or holding elections a 12 months forward of schedule.
However, there is no such thing as a assure the 74-year-old former European Central Bank chief will get the job.
The first alternative of (*24*) centre-right events is the 85-year-old four-times prime minister Silvio Berlusconi.
Other figures thought of to be contenders are former decrease home speaker Pier Ferdinando Casini, former Prime Minister Giuliano Amato and the present Justice Minister Marta Cartabia.
The president, elected for a seven-year time period, usually has a largely ceremonial function, however enjoys intensive powers following elections or when a authorities falls. He has the ultimate say in nominating the prime minister and different cupboard members.
The election, carried out by secret poll amongst greater than 1,000 parliamentarians and regional representatives, is an unpredictable course of typically taking a number of days.
There are not any official candidates, and every parliamentarian writes the identify of their alternative on a chunk of paper. This can produce extravagant proposals of sports activities stars, actors or different public figures.
Party chiefs normally attempt to negotiate a mutually acceptable candidate however the secret poll means their directions will not be all the time adopted by rank-and-file lawmakers.
In the primary three rounds of voting, a two-thirds majority is required to elect a president. From the fourth vote on, the edge is lowered to an absolute majority, that means greater than half of those that forged a poll.
The parliamentarians vote one after the opposite and every spherical of voting usually takes greater than 4 hours.
Since the present system was launched, solely two of (*24*) 12 presidents have been elected within the first three rounds of voting. The most drawn-out election was that of Giovanni Leone in 1971, which required 23 rounds.
(Editing by Ed Osmond)
