A new president will be elected in Italy, the first round of voting begins on Monday. Voting can take days. And the election also has its own peculiarities this time – the corona situation is making the procedure more difficult.
Italian President Sergio Mattarella is out of office after seven years. The election of his successor begins this Monday in Rome. As in Germany, the head of state is not elected directly by the people, but by electors.
How is the President of Italy elected?
1009 electors were invited to Rome to vote, these are the members of the two parliamentary chambers – Senate and House of Representatives – as well as representatives of the 20 regions. You vote individually and secretly. In the first three ballots, a two-thirds majority is required for victory, from ballot four then an absolute majority of 505 votes.
It can be expected that it will take days for someone to be elected. The parties could not agree on a cross-camp candidate, no one should get two-thirds of the votes in the first three ballots. In addition, the corona pandemic is delaying the voting procedure: only 50 voters are allowed in at the same time in the large auditorium of the House of Representatives, where the ballot boxes – known as “salad bowls” – are located. More than four hours are expected per vote, and complex disinfection measures are planned for this.
Numerous voters infected with Corona or in quarantine
A number of voters are actually in Covid quarantine because they are infected themselves or are contact persons. It had been speculated in advance that dozens of people would not be able to come to Rome or the House of Representatives. However, an exceptional decree allows them to give up their isolation for the duration of the election. In order not to take any risks, special polling tents were set up in front of the building for those people.
There is no telling who will be the new president. In Italy you can’t apply officially, often only during the elections does a dynamic develop for a person. Ex-Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi recently campaigned most clearly for himself; he gave up at the weekend with no chance of success. The many possible candidates include former heads of government such as Giuliano Amato, longtime parliamentarians such as Pier Ferdinando Casini and Maria Elisabetta Casellati – and also the incumbent Prime Minister Mario Draghi.
Should Draghi be elected, the future of the government is open. The centre-left parties want the coalition to continue until the end of the 2023 legislative period. However, this requires a new, strong head of government. It is unclear who this could be.
Source From: Stern
David William is a talented author who has made a name for himself in the world of writing. He is a professional author who writes on a wide range of topics, from general interest to opinion news. David is currently working as a writer at 24 hours worlds where he brings his unique perspective and in-depth research to his articles, making them both informative and engaging.
