Following the withdrawal of former Italian Prime Minister and Forza Italia Party leader Silvio Berlusconi, voting has begun in the Italian Parliament to elect the country’s next president.
As current President Sergio Mattarella‘s term expires on February 3, lawmakers and special district representatives will this week choose the person to hold the presidential post, a symbolic post.
In the voting, the delegates write the names that the parties have nominated or the names they want to see on the blank ballot paper and put them in the ballot box secretly. Lawmakers’ votes are counted openly, under the supervision of the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate, who host the election process.
In the elections carried out within the scope of the new type of coronavirus (Covid-19) measures, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Roberto Fico, opened the first round of the voting process with the instruction to use disinfectant before using the pen allocated to the ‘Great Elector‘ to write candidates.
While many MPs are expected to cast blank ballots today, a candidate must obtain an absolute majority of 672 votes in the first three rounds to be elected. The 4th round, which is expected to start on Thursday, will be elected with an absolute majority of 505 votes.
Neither main bloc has an absolute majority
However, the two main blocs of the parliament, the center-right, and the center-left do not have the lawmakers’ votes to obtain an absolute majority. This means that the parties have to compromise or have the support of 90 voters who are not in both blocs.
According to the presidential election law in the country, the head of the Italian state, the neutral president who is the representative of the national unity, 315 senators and 6-lifetime senators, members of the upper house of the parliament, the Senate of the Republic, 630 deputies from the lower wing House of Representatives and 58 representatives from 20 administrative regions. Members of the “Great Electoral Assembly” are determined by the votes.
Liguria Regional President Giovanni Toti, who leads a small center-right party, stated that the process will take a few days.
The results of the first round are not expected to be known until late at night.
As part of Covid-19 security protocols, traditional voting booths have been replaced by doorless structures that are easier to clean.
On the other hand, a few deputies caught in Covid-19 were allowed to vote with a special arrangement.
The deputy who refused to take the Covid-19 test was not allowed to vote
Sara Cunial, an anti-party member of parliament who was expelled from the populist 5 Star Movement for her “unscientific views”, was not allowed to vote because she refused to take the Covid-19 test.
