(ANSA) - Rome, March 23 - The anti-establishment 5-Star
Movement, the rightwing populist League, the centre-right Forza
Italia (FI) party and the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) said
Friday they would file blank ballots in the first round of
voting for parliamentary Speakers, the first act in the hung
parliament that convenes Friday.
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 F1 candidate for Senate Speaker, former
Senate Whip Paolo Romani, because he is under investigation for
alleged misuse of a municipal cellphone in the northern city of
Monza.
The M5S said Friday they would "never resurrect" the
so-called Nazarene Pact formerly between FI leader Silvio
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".
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 lowers 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 Senate also failed to elect a Speaker in the first
ballot.
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%.
M5S, FI, PD to file blank ballots (3)
Stalemate over first act of hung parliament