18 April 2013

FT: Italy's centre-left splinters in presidential vote

Italy's centre-left Democrats splintered in disarray as parliament failed to elect a new head of state, dealing a fresh blow to hopes of breaking the deadlock resulting from inconclusive general elections held nearly eight weeks ago.

The election of a new head of state to succeed Giorgio Napolitano, whose seven-year term ends in mid-May, is seen as a crucial step towards either the formation of a new government or the dissolution of parliament pending fresh elections, possibly in early July. Questions were immediately raised over Pier Luigi Bersani’s continued leadership of the Democratic party after many of his parliamentarians rebelled and voted against his preferred candidate, Franco Marini, an 80-year-old former Catholic trade unionist widely seen as emblematic of a discredited establishment.

Only a day earlier, Mr Bersani had struck a last-minute deal over Mr Marini with the centre-right coalition led by former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. But he failed to anticipate the scale of a revolt within the Democratic party led by Matteo Renzi, the young reformist mayor of Florence who hopes to lead the centre-left into the next elections. Mr Renzi, increasingly vocal in his opposition to Mr Bersani, derided Mr Marini, 80, as “a candidate from the last century” lacking international standing.

Mr Bersani also alienated his allies in the Left Ecology and Freedom party who joined ranks with the anti-establishment Five Star Movement, the third largest force in a highly fragmented parliament, in backing Stefano Rodota, a left-wing jurist. The centrist Civic Choice headed by caretaker prime minister Mario Monti also split over Mr Marini. In the first round Mr Marini won 521 votes out of a possible 1,007, falling well short of the two-thirds majority needed to secure election. Mr Rodota came second with 240. A breakdown of the numbers suggested that around 200 out of 436 Democrats had broken ranks.

From the fourth round onwards, the threshold needed to secure election is reduced to an absolute majority of 504. According to a senior Democrat, the party’s likely “plan B” would be to put forward former centre-left prime minister Romano Prodi.

Full article (FT subscription required)

© Financial Times