Zürcher Nachrichten - Italy's President Sergio Mattarella re-elected, easing crisis

EUR -
AED 4.320459
AFN 80.55459
ALL 97.444284
AMD 449.769792
ANG 2.105467
AOA 1078.79174
ARS 1492.750644
AUD 1.788712
AWG 2.119938
AZN 2.006607
BAM 1.955685
BBD 2.367961
BDT 143.371589
BGN 1.955685
BHD 0.442074
BIF 3495.635509
BMD 1.176436
BND 1.502686
BOB 8.103525
BRL 6.542749
BSD 1.172731
BTN 101.503046
BWP 15.746076
BYN 3.837975
BYR 23058.145349
BZD 2.355762
CAD 1.611488
CDF 3398.723533
CHF 0.935084
CLF 0.028454
CLP 1114.635663
CNY 8.416191
CNH 8.430076
COP 4782.753448
CRC 592.465244
CUC 1.176436
CUP 31.175554
CVE 110.257595
CZK 24.548719
DJF 208.837749
DKK 7.463486
DOP 71.155826
DZD 152.17078
EGP 57.692558
ERN 17.64654
ETB 163.206526
FJD 2.638452
FKP 0.875201
GBP 0.875092
GEL 3.187744
GGP 0.875201
GHS 12.255177
GIP 0.875201
GMD 84.703676
GNF 10177.316462
GTQ 9.001395
GYD 245.365606
HKD 9.234299
HNL 30.709199
HRK 7.534959
HTG 153.898356
HUF 396.229505
IDR 19246.49275
ILS 3.944944
IMP 0.875201
INR 101.764713
IQD 1536.309876
IRR 49542.653233
ISK 142.19611
JEP 0.875201
JMD 187.069026
JOD 0.83409
JPY 173.808984
KES 151.521111
KGS 102.682963
KHR 4697.644562
KMF 492.364993
KPW 1058.792389
KRW 1622.536445
KWD 0.359201
KYD 0.977343
KZT 639.062511
LAK 25281.51692
LBP 105080.035729
LKR 353.849242
LRD 235.136206
LSL 20.814379
LTL 3.47371
LVL 0.711615
LYD 6.330629
MAD 10.546181
MDL 19.725843
MGA 5179.696145
MKD 61.556389
MMK 2469.84847
MNT 4220.772095
MOP 9.482044
MRU 46.805254
MUR 53.422145
MVR 18.108586
MWK 2033.580705
MXN 21.785354
MYR 4.966324
MZN 75.244803
NAD 20.814379
NGN 1796.911458
NIO 43.156735
NOK 11.920896
NPR 162.404473
NZD 1.953219
OMR 0.451863
PAB 1.172731
PEN 4.153756
PGK 4.860674
PHP 67.214474
PKR 332.333304
PLN 4.247523
PYG 8784.484679
QAR 4.274913
RON 5.067968
RSD 117.143128
RUB 93.032285
RWF 1695.200555
SAR 4.413402
SBD 9.746884
SCR 16.619884
SDG 706.442647
SEK 11.175307
SGD 1.506315
SHP 0.924494
SLE 26.999664
SLL 24669.279076
SOS 670.260681
SRD 43.132264
STD 24349.84972
STN 24.498355
SVC 10.261398
SYP 15295.772053
SZL 20.806779
THB 38.104224
TJS 11.199943
TMT 4.12929
TND 3.42377
TOP 2.755329
TRY 47.703773
TTD 7.974532
TWD 34.689541
TZS 3009.457377
UAH 49.036423
UGX 4204.753338
USD 1.176436
UYU 46.976845
UZS 14839.129498
VES 141.493955
VND 30757.918885
VUV 139.522853
WST 3.222244
XAF 655.918522
XAG 0.030822
XAU 0.000353
XCD 3.179377
XCG 2.113576
XDR 0.815752
XOF 655.918522
XPF 119.331742
YER 283.462572
ZAR 20.879972
ZMK 10589.334584
ZMW 27.354395
ZWL 378.811908
  • RBGPF

    -1.1200

    73.88

    -1.52%

  • SCU

    0.0000

    12.72

    0%

  • CMSD

    0.0400

    22.89

    +0.17%

  • SCS

    0.0700

    10.58

    +0.66%

  • RELX

    -0.9800

    52.73

    -1.86%

  • NGG

    -0.0800

    72.15

    -0.11%

  • VOD

    -0.0900

    11.43

    -0.79%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0400

    13.2

    -0.3%

  • RIO

    -0.7300

    63.1

    -1.16%

  • CMSC

    0.0550

    22.485

    +0.24%

  • AZN

    -1.0200

    72.66

    -1.4%

  • GSK

    -0.2600

    37.97

    -0.68%

  • BCE

    -0.2300

    24.2

    -0.95%

  • BCC

    1.7100

    88.14

    +1.94%

  • BP

    0.0700

    32.2

    +0.22%

  • BTI

    -0.3700

    52.25

    -0.71%

  • JRI

    -0.0600

    13.09

    -0.46%

Italy's President Sergio Mattarella re-elected, easing crisis
Italy's President Sergio Mattarella re-elected, easing crisis

Italy's President Sergio Mattarella re-elected, easing crisis

Italy's parties Saturday voted overwhelmingly for outgoing President Sergio Mattarella to remain for another term, averting the political chaos a failure to elect his successor could have sparked in the eurozone's third-largest economy.

Text size:

Electing the 80-year-old ended weeks of hand-wringing over whether prized Prime Minister Mario Draghi should be elevated, with many fearing such a move would have left the government rudderless at a highly sensitive time.

Mattarella needed to pocket 505 or more votes. He won 759, earning him another stint as president in spite of himself.

The former constitutional court judge had repeatedly ruled out serving for a second term, but gave in Saturday after Italy's bickering political parties failed to find another viable candidate.

"I had other plans, but if it's necessary, I'm available," he said before the vote, according to party parliamentary representatives.

He was expected to be sworn in on Wednesday or Thursday.

Constitutional expert Gaetano Azzariti earlier told AFP Mattarella's election would be for the full seven-year term, but he could resign earlier.

Draghi said the result was "wonderful news for Italians".

French President Emmanuel Macron was quick to tweet his congratulations to "dear Sergio".

Italy's presidency is largely ceremonial, but the head of state wields serious power during political crises, from dissolving parliament to picking new prime ministers and denying mandates to fragile coalitions.

- 'Big sacrifice' -

Matteo Salvini, head of the far-right League party, was the first to openly propose the popular outgoing president Saturday, after putting forward a candidate Friday that flopped.

Billionaire Silvio Berlusconi, who took a failed shot at the presidency himself, also said his party would ask Mattarella "to make a big sacrifice", as did the centre-left Democratic Party (PD).

Only the far-right Brothers of Italy party was against asking him to stay on.

A double mandate is not entirely unprecedented. In 2013, president Giorgio Napolitano was elected to stay on, in an attempt to resolve the political stalemate left by an inconclusive general election. He served nearly two more years.

Mattarella has already served a tumultuous seven-year term, during which he has sought to be a unifying figure through five different governments and the devastation of coronavirus.

The Sicilian, who was a little-known constitutional court judge when he was elected head of state by parliament in 2015, has been appreciated by parties across the political spectrum.

Mattarella is expected to stay in the post now for a least a year, to get the country through to the 2023 general election. That will also leave Draghi free to forge ahead with Italy's post-pandemic recovery.

- 'Ideal for financial markets' -

Draghi, a former European Central Bank chief brought in to lead a national unity government almost a year ago, has been key to reviving debt-laden Italy's economy.

Italy is banking on almost 200 billion euros ($222 billion) in EU funds to cement the trend, but the money from Brussels is dependent on a tight timetable of reforms.

International investors have been watching the election closely, amid fears that timetable may go to pot.

Guido Cozzi, professor of macroeconomics at the University of St. Gallen, told AFP an extension of Mattarella's mandate was "ideal for the financial markets".

Draghi has also managed to keep squabbling between Italy's parties to a minimum.

But the Repubblica daily pointed out that -- with the general election campaign already underway -- the year ahead "risks being a replay of the shambles we've seen over the past few days".

It will now fall to Mattarella to keep the peace: "a task more difficult than we can imagine".

L.Zimmermann--NZN