Voting over parliamentary Speakers,
the first act of the hung parliament that convened Friday, were
locked in stalemate and even the centre right was split after
the League said it would vote for Forza Italia (FI) Senator Anna
Maria Bernini but FI said it was sticking with Senate Whip Paolo
Romani.
The anti-establishment 5-Star Movement, the rightwing
populist League, the centre-right Forza Italia (FI) party and
the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) filed blank ballots in the
opening rounds of voting.
Premier Paolo Gentiloni, however, said there was no market
alarm over the Italian political stalemate.
A deal between the centre right, including the League, and
the M5S to give the Speakership of the Senate to the former and
the House to the latter broke down Thursday.
The M5S rejected the initial candidate for Senate Speaker,
former Senate Whip Romani, because he is under investigation for
alleged misuse of a municipal cellphone in the northern city of
Monza.
But FI leader Silvio Berlusconi, the three-time ex-premier
and media magnate, said the centre right would vote "compactly"
for Romani from the third round on, when the quorum drops and
the alliance may be able to vote him in on their own.
However, rightwing populist League leader Matteo Salvini said
it will vote for Forza Italia's Anna Maria Bernini instead.
He said it would do so out of "a sense of responsibility".
For the M5S, meanwhile, the chances of former RAI watchdog
chair Roberto Fico being elected House Speaker were said to be
rising, according to sources close to the party.
The M5S said Friday they would "never resurrect" the
so-called Nazarene Pact formerly between FI leader Berlusconi
and PD ex-leader Matteo Renzi.
"No blackmail, we won't rehabilitate Berlusconi," said M5S
Senate Whip Danilo Toninelli.
PD caretaker leader Maurizio Martina said "the stalemate is
getting more complicated, and what we need are guarantor
figures".
Small rightist Brothers of Italy (FdI) leader Giorgia Meloni
said "the stalemate is due to infantile posturing".
Meloni added: 'We'll decide tomorrow" whether to keep backing
Romani.
The parties went on to notch their first failure to elect a
Lower House Speaker amid the stalemate.
No candidate reached the required 420 votes needed in the
first ballot in the 630-seat chamber.
That corresponds to two thirds of the seats in the Lower
House.
The second and third ballots lower the quorum by counting
blank ballots.
A two-thirds majority is needed to elect the new Speaker in
the first three rounds of voting, after which an absolute
majority suffices.
Some 620 MPs took part in the vote, 592 filing blank ballots
and 18 spoiling their ballots.
Votes were cast for Brunetta (2), Muroni (2), Stumpo (2),
Bonafede (2), Ermini (1), Lupi (1) and Tripiedi (1).
The House also failed to elect a new Speaker in the second
ballot.
No candidate reached the required two thirds of the votes.
A third vote will be necessary, in which a two-thirds
majority will again be required, including blank ballots.
In the second ballot, the required majority was 408 votes.
There were 577 blank ballots, six spoiled ballots and 12
missing votes.
The following received votes: Tripiedi (4), Bond (3), Stumpo
(2), Brunetta (2), Ermini (2), and Muroni (2).
The Senate also failed to elect a Speaker in the first two
ballots.
In the first, over 300 blank ballots were cast in the
315-seat chamber, which also counts six life Senators.
Very few names were voted for: one for Fabio Di Micco, one
for Giorgio Napolitano, one for Paolo Romani and one for Emma
Bonino.
The two winners of the general election were the M5S, which
got 32%, and the League, which got 17.5% to become top dog on
the centre right, which as a whole got 37%.
The PD was left reeling after scoring just 19%.
Premier Paolo Gentiloni said Friday he could not see any
alarm on the financial markets over the Italian political
stalemate following the inconclusive March 4 general election.
"I don't see an Italy alarm for the stability of the markets
or the (bond) spread," he said.
"I see an awareness that the convergence in the eurozone and
the work done by Italian governments in these years guarantee a
certain stability".
Gentiloni said "it doesn't mean that the situation is eternal
and immutable, and therefore there is a commitment on the part
of all the parliamentary forces to work together to find a
solution to the crisis".
Gentiloni addressed the stalemate over parliamentary Speakers
in Italy saying "I believe that not only for what he represented
but for the role he still plays we owe the utmost consideration
to the words of (former president and life Senator Giorgio)
Napolitano, and after that the political debate is open".
Napolitano earlier said the new parliament should respect
voters' wishes and he had faith in President Sergio Mattarella
to find a way out of Italy's post-election stalemate.
He said the March 4 general election had rejected the
"self-exaltation" of governments in boasting about the results
of their policies leading to the victories of populist forces.
"Citizens felt that traditional parties were far off and
closed with respect to their suffering, and with respect to
widespread feelings of insecurity and alarm", referring to the
migrant and jobs emergencies.
The vote, he said, was a "clear watershed" to the advantage
of the M5S and the League.
Napolitano, a two-time straight former president, is one of
Italy's most respected political figures.
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