With his anti-mafia credentials,
a CV that includes work as a judge on Italy's Constitutional
court, and a reputation for integrity, Sergio Mattarella was
touted Thursday as worthy choice to become the 12th president of
Italy.
Premier Matteo Renzi described the Democratic Party (PD)
candidate as a "decent politician" as voting began for the new
president, replacing Giorgio Napolitano, 89, who resigned
earlier this month, citing age and health issues.
"The fight against the Mafia, (his) resignation for an
ideal, colleges for MPs, the abolition of military conscription.
(Mattarella is) a decent politician," tweeted Renzi.
Palermo-born Mattarella, 73, has a long history in
politics, which was something of a family business.
His father Bernardo Mattarella served as a Christian
Democrat (DC) cabinet minister several times in the 1950s and
1960s and in 1980, his brother Piersanti Mattarella was
assassinated by the Mafia while serving as regional governor of
Sicily.
Sergio Mattarella was first elected to the Lower House in
1983 as a left-leaning member of the DC, which collapsed in the
wake of the Bribesville corruption scandal in the early 1990s.
He later joined the precursor to today's PD.
Mattarella served as minister of parliamentary affairs and
later, under premier Giulio Andreotti, Mattarella served as
minister of education - a post he resigned in 1990 over
parliament's passage of the Mammì's Act, which liberalized the
media in Italy.
Critics have said the law gave a significant advantage to
the business interests of former premier Silvio Berlusconi,
Italy's wealthiest man thanks to his media empire.
On Thursday, Berlusconi - head of the center-right Forza
Italia (FI) party - expressed his opposition to Mattarella's
candidacy which led some commentators to suggest he still held a
grudge 25 years later.
In contrast, Renzi used that incident as a shining example
of Mattarella's integrity.
The resignation did not mean Mattarella was finished with
politics, even as he worked from 1992 to 1994 as director of Il
Popolo newspaper.
During that time, he drafted 1993 legislation enacting a
new electoral system - the Mattarellum - replaced a dozen years
later by Berlusconi with what has become known as the "pigsty"
law and which is in turn being reformed by Renzi working with
Berlusconi.
After the 1996 general elections, Mattarella become head of
the Italian Popular Party parliamentarian committee and later,
vice-premier under Massimo D'Alema.
Mattarella went on to become defense minister, a post in
which he oversaw significant changes to the military system in
Italy, including an end to conscription.
Media commentators note that Mattarella is unusually
restrained for a politician, with no official profile on social
network sites such as Twitter, and few media appearances.
An informal count suggests that in the past decade, he has
spoken publicly and drawn headlines just 29 times.
But that may have been good training for his election in
2011 by the Italian parliament as a judge on the Constitutional
Court.
That is crucial experience, Renzi said Thursday as his PD
lawmakers and regional representatives taking part in the
election unanimously backed Mattarella.
"(He) is a Constitutional judge, and we are changing the
Constitution," Renzi said, referring to his revamp of Italy's
slow, costly political machinery.
"Mattarella is a defender of the Charter, which...means
being able to defend it while promoting the transition process
in full compliance with the rules".
Nichi Vendola said Thursday that his small Left, Ecology
and Freedom (SEL) party was also ready to vote for Mattarella
from the fourth ballot.
"We consider this proposal positive because he is a clear
figure in moral and political terms," said Vendola, who is also
Puglia governor.
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