{"id":1254100,"date":"2022-01-29T13:37:31","date_gmt":"2022-01-29T18:37:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1254100"},"modified":"2022-01-29T13:37:48","modified_gmt":"2022-01-29T18:37:48","slug":"italian-indecision-bickering-parties-beg-elderly-prez-to-stay-for-another-term","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/italian-indecision-bickering-parties-beg-elderly-prez-to-stay-for-another-term\/","title":{"rendered":"Italian Indecision: Bickering Parties Beg Elderly Prez to Stay for Another Term"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fitalian-indecision-bickering-parties-beg-elderly-prez-to-stay-for-another-term%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1254100&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p class=\"subheading\">ROME (AP) \u2013 Support for Italian President Sergio Mattarella to stay on for a second term quickly swelled on Saturday among party leaders after days of failed balloting to find an alternative candidate and amid the risk that protracted political squabbling would erode the nation\u2019s stability and international credibility.<\/p>\n<p>Mattarella\u2019s term ends on Feb. 3. The president, who is 80, has repeatedly said he doesn\u2019t want another seven-year stint as head of state. He even recently rented an apartment in Rome to prepare for his move from the presidential palace atop the Quirinal Hill.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>His office didn\u2019t immediately say if he was re-considering his previously announced decision.<\/p>\n<p>The calls for him to stay in office came during the latest round of balloting by 1,009 eligible lawmakers and special regional delegates failed to give any one candidate the minimum 505 votes needed for victory.<\/p>\n<p>The next vote was set to start in late afternoon.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<div id=\"attachment_19675482\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/GettyImages-1244676497.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-19675482\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/GettyImages-1244676497.png\" alt=\"ROME, ITALY - JUNE 02: The President of the Italian Republic Sergio Mattarella lays a wreath on the Altare della Patria on Republic Day on June 02, 2020 in Rome, Italy.The President of the Italian Republic took part of the Republic Day celebrations in Rome. (Photo by Handout\/Handout \/ Italian Presidency Press Office via Getty Images)\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">ROME, ITALY \u2013 JUNE 02: The President of the Italian Republic Sergio Mattarella lays a wreath on the Altare della Patria on Republic Day on June 02, 2020 in Rome, Italy.The President of the Italian Republic took part of the Republic Day celebrations in Rome. (Photo by Handout\/Handout \/ Italian Presidency Press Office via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Among those pressing for Mattarella are right-wing leader Matteo Salvini and former Premier Silvio Berlusconi, who just a week ago reluctantly relinquished his own quest for Italy\u2019s highest office, which the Constitution says must represent national unity.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Silvio Berlusconi Admitted to Hospital, Drops Out of Italian Presidential Race<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/1xWMarzftk\">https:\/\/t.co\/1xWMarzftk<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BreitbartLondon\/status\/1485311370824458245?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 23, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cThis is a moment of unity, and we must feel that as a duty,\u201d Berlusconi, who heads the conservative Forza Italia party, said in a statement from Milan, where he was recently hospitalized for medical tests. \u201cBut unity today can only be found around the figure of President Sergio Mattarella, of whom we know we\u2019re asking a great sacrifice\u201d in the higher interests of the country.<\/p>\n<p>The chorus calling for a Mattarella encore also encompassed the opposite end of the wide spectrum of parties in Premier Mario Draghi\u2019s nearly year-old pandemic unity government. Health Minister Roberto Speranza, who heads a small left-wing party, told reporters outside Parliament that Mattarella\u2019s re-election would be crucial for \u201ca context of stability for Italy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The head of the populist 5-Star Movement, Parliament\u2019s largest force, former Premier Giuseppe Conte, also joined in the lobbying. \u201cMattarella is the guarantor of everybody, impartial, authoritative,\u201d he told reporters.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>State TV, without citing sources, said that Draghi on Saturday contacted party leaders to encourage efforts aimed at a renewed Mattarella mandate.<\/p>\n<p>Until 2013, no president had served a second term. Then, a similar political stalemate among the members of Parliament and regional delegates in several rounds of balloting ended when Giorgio Napolitano, a former Communist leader, agreed to accept a second mandate. Napolitano resigned in 2015, when he was nearly 90, clearing the way for the election that made Mattarella head of state.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Majority of Ballots Cast on Italian Presidential First Round Vote Blank, No Winner <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/BanWOWbfua\">https:\/\/t.co\/BanWOWbfua<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BreitbartLondon\/status\/1486326808085630976?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 26, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>In Saturday\u2019s first round of voting, hundreds of electors, following party lines, abstained from casting ballots since no consensus on a candidate had been reached. In that round, Mattarella garnered 387 votes, 51 more than he received in Friday evening\u2019s vote, where momentum for a second mandate started gaining traction.<\/p>\n<p>The voting made plain the deep rivalries among the parties, including allies, in Draghi\u2019s coalition, which Mattarella asked him to form nearly a year ago to lead Italy through the pandemic and help it recover economically, thanks to some 200 billion euros (225 billion) in European Union funds that are linked to government reforms.<\/p>\n<p>Most leaders are eager to avoid early elections, a prospect that would likely have increased if Draghi had been elected head of state, especially since he indicated last month his interest in the post.<\/p>\n<p>One name touted for weeks as a strong candidate has been that of Sen. Pier Ferdinando Casini, whose various political party allegiances over the last decades seemed to clash with the impartiality required of a head of state. But he, too, on Saturday, said Mattarella is needed for the good of the nation and asked his fellow lawmakers to spare the country the spectacle of \u201cmore fruitless balloting.\u201d<\/p>\n<h5 class=\"western\"><em><span>Follow Breitbart London on Facebook:<\/span><\/em><em>&nbsp;<\/em><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BreitbartLondon\/\"><span>Breitbart London<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/h5>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ROME (AP) \u2013 Support for Italian President Sergio Mattarella to stay on for a second term quickly swelled on Saturday among party leaders after days of failed balloting to find &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1254100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1254100","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1254100"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1254100\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1254100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1254100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1254100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}