(ANSA) - ROME, JAN 20 - Democratic Party (PD) leader Enrico
Letta on Thursday reiterated his call for Italy's next president
to be a bipartisan figure and said the fact that he wanted
dialogue with the centre-right parties over a possible name does
not mean they get to choose the new head of State.
The centre right had been considering backing ex-premier Silvio
Berlusconi to be President Sergio Mattarella's replacement but
the Forza Italia leader's chances of taking the top job appear
to be fading due to staunch opposition from the PD and the
5-Star Movement (M5S).
Lawmakers from both houses of parliament and regional
representatives are set to starting voting for a new president
on Monday, with Mattarella's seven-year term coming to an end.
A majority of two-thirds of the 'grand electors' is needed to
vote in a new president in the first three ballots, after which
a simple majority is sufficient.
"Faced with the assault on the presidential palace by the centre
right, we had to find a balance between repelling the assault
and keeping open a channel of communication for a consensus
name, not a partisan one, and, therefore, not a centre-right
name," Letta told Radio Immagina.
"We have to find an agreement on a bipartisan name".
League leader Matteo Salvini, meanwhile, had talks with M5S
chief Giuseppe Conte on Thursday in view of the presidential
election, parliamentary sources said.
Premier Mario Draghi is among the favourites to be the nation's
next president, although if the former ECB chief is elected head
of State, it could lead to early elections.
This is because many find it hard to imagine the broad spectrum
of parties supporting his national unity executive agreeing to
get behind another figure.
There has also been talk of Mattarella being re-elected,
something that has only happened once previously, with his
predecessor Giorgio Napolitano, and staying on, although
possibly not for the whole of the seven-year term.
The 80-year-old appeared to rule that out on Thursday, telling
the the judiciary's self-governing body, the Supreme Council of
Magistrates (CSM), that it will soon be presided over by a new
head of State. (ANSA).
New president shouldn't be chosen by centre right - Letta
New head of State must be bipartisan figure - PD chief