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

EUR -
AED 3.84509
AFN 71.777909
ALL 98.141202
AMD 408.574256
ANG 1.895444
AOA 956.307906
ARS 1050.834504
AUD 1.612295
AWG 1.88697
AZN 1.781792
BAM 1.95518
BBD 2.123426
BDT 125.68012
BGN 1.95544
BHD 0.394556
BIF 3106.673555
BMD 1.046863
BND 1.413279
BOB 7.266764
BRL 6.08667
BSD 1.051666
BTN 88.857002
BWP 14.357787
BYN 3.441808
BYR 20518.511152
BZD 2.119927
CAD 1.463907
CDF 3004.495922
CHF 0.928358
CLF 0.036943
CLP 1019.371919
CNY 7.586823
CNH 7.596382
COP 4597.413202
CRC 534.630353
CUC 1.046863
CUP 27.741865
CVE 110.231075
CZK 25.351929
DJF 187.280573
DKK 7.458552
DOP 63.369892
DZD 139.850155
EGP 52.055675
ERN 15.702942
ETB 131.05999
FJD 2.383654
FKP 0.826307
GBP 0.832863
GEL 2.852699
GGP 0.826307
GHS 16.721854
GIP 0.826307
GMD 74.327594
GNF 9065.210059
GTQ 8.118501
GYD 220.032282
HKD 8.147472
HNL 26.576948
HRK 7.467544
HTG 138.078823
HUF 411.263192
IDR 16654.540506
ILS 3.888614
IMP 0.826307
INR 88.452372
IQD 1377.782549
IRR 44078.158835
ISK 146.099629
JEP 0.826307
JMD 167.02418
JOD 0.742329
JPY 162.076355
KES 135.30763
KGS 90.541947
KHR 4241.735067
KMF 491.658984
KPW 942.176136
KRW 1467.345375
KWD 0.322141
KYD 0.876434
KZT 521.551976
LAK 23036.690094
LBP 94182.614366
LKR 305.992904
LRD 189.834296
LSL 19.030043
LTL 3.091114
LVL 0.633237
LYD 5.13737
MAD 10.518163
MDL 19.150923
MGA 4924.554963
MKD 61.549271
MMK 3400.169584
MNT 3557.239785
MOP 8.431545
MRU 41.826127
MUR 49.0452
MVR 16.174377
MWK 1823.664873
MXN 21.399132
MYR 4.676858
MZN 66.894575
NAD 19.030134
NGN 1770.328441
NIO 38.49315
NOK 11.602768
NPR 142.170924
NZD 1.795014
OMR 0.40304
PAB 1.051666
PEN 3.994832
PGK 4.233697
PHP 61.630383
PKR 292.324522
PLN 4.344295
PYG 8254.380754
QAR 3.83432
RON 4.977308
RSD 117.026668
RUB 106.047711
RWF 1445.075964
SAR 3.930488
SBD 8.761739
SCR 14.258139
SDG 629.686448
SEK 11.599638
SGD 1.409962
SHP 0.826307
SLE 23.643399
SLL 21952.194733
SOS 601.035118
SRD 37.064183
STD 21667.946639
SVC 9.202212
SYP 2630.274077
SZL 19.038413
THB 36.362743
TJS 11.200706
TMT 3.674488
TND 3.327176
TOP 2.451861
TRY 36.201935
TTD 7.138837
TWD 34.080594
TZS 2776.65598
UAH 43.420359
UGX 3885.804091
USD 1.046863
UYU 44.816635
UZS 13457.421913
VES 48.437715
VND 26608.635571
VUV 124.285657
WST 2.922413
XAF 655.764576
XAG 0.033764
XAU 0.000389
XCD 2.829199
XDR 0.802265
XOF 655.74892
XPF 119.331742
YER 261.608951
ZAR 18.964653
ZMK 9423.028407
ZMW 29.000798
ZWL 337.089399
  • CMSD

    0.1850

    24.445

    +0.76%

  • RBGPF

    59.6900

    59.69

    +100%

  • RYCEF

    0.1800

    6.79

    +2.65%

  • RELX

    0.6500

    45.76

    +1.42%

  • CMSC

    0.1200

    24.64

    +0.49%

  • GSK

    0.3500

    33.7

    +1.04%

  • SCS

    -0.0300

    13.04

    -0.23%

  • RIO

    0.1800

    62.57

    +0.29%

  • NGG

    -0.1700

    63.1

    -0.27%

  • AZN

    1.0600

    64.26

    +1.65%

  • JRI

    0.0000

    13.23

    0%

  • VOD

    -0.1000

    8.84

    -1.13%

  • BCE

    -0.3200

    26.68

    -1.2%

  • BCC

    2.9500

    140.36

    +2.1%

  • BTI

    -0.1000

    36.98

    -0.27%

  • BP

    0.4400

    29.52

    +1.49%

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

Italy's President 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 that 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 at least 505 votes from an electoral college of 1,009 lawmakers and regional representatives. He won 759, earning another stint as president in spite of himself.

The former constitutional court judge had repeatedly ruled out serving 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," Mattarella said before the vote, according to party parliamentary representatives.

He was expected to be sworn in on Wednesday or Thursday. Although many expect him to leave before the end of his new seven-year term, he is likely to stay at least past elections scheduled for 2023.

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.

Draghi said the result, after eight rounds of voting over six days, was "wonderful news for Italians".

French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted his congratulations to "dear Sergio", while German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier hailed a "role model" who "understands the importance of Europe".

Pope Francis hailed Mattarella's "generous" agreement to stay on during a period of uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic, which hit Italy hard.

- 'Ideal for financial markets' -

Draghi, a former European Central Bank chief brought in to lead a national unity government almost a year ago, had been touted for months as the most eligible head of state.

But many feared his departure as prime minister would destabilise debt-laden Italy as it recovers from a lockdown-induced recession.

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 Draghi's exit could undermine the whole programme.

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 to a minimum squabbling between Italy's parties, almost all of which share power in his national unity government.

But the Repubblica daily pointed out that, with the campaign for the 2023 election 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".

- '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 former premier 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 re-elected in an attempt to resolve the political stalemate left by an inconclusive general election. He served nearly two more years.

Mattarella was little-known to the public when elected president in 2015, known mostly for his brother's murder by the mafia in 1980, and for taking a stand as a minister against Berlusconi.

But the Sicilian has inspired respect and affection across the political sphere, seeking to be a unifying figure through five different governments.

T.Gerber--NZN