The centre-right's bid to get Senate
Speaker Elisabetta Casellati elected head of State in the fifth
ballot of the election for a new president came up short on
Friday.
The centre-right Democratic Party (PD), the 5-Star Movement
(M5S), the left-wing LeU group and the centrist IV party
abstained in the fifth ballot, saying a consensus figure is
needed, not the pick of one side of the political spectrum.
Casellati is a member of ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi's Forza
Italia party.
A sixth ballot of the 1,009 grand electors - lawmakers from both
houses of parliament and regional representatives - starts at
5pm.
A simple majority is needed to elect a successor to President
Sergio Mattarella, so the magic number is 505.
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