Actually, the old Christian Democrat Mattarella no longer wanted. He had already packed his bags and found a new home in Rome’s upscale Parioli district. But Prime Minister Draghi persuaded him to accept the nomination anyway. It is not the first time that a president’s seven-year term has been extended in Italy. That happened earlier with Mattarella’s predecessor, Giorgio Napolitano. He then stayed on for almost two years. It is unknown how long Mattarella will stay on.
President Mattarella, who comes from Sicily, is a guarantee for the EU. He has avoided a possible split between Italy and the EU for the past seven years.
Berlusconia
Still, Mattarella was not the first choice of all parties. The center right initially pushed Silvio Berlusconi forward as presidential candidate, but the center left wanted nothing to do with it. Other candidates from the center right also found little support. The center left hardly came up with serious proposals.
One strong presidential candidate often mentioned was Prime Minister Mario Draghi. But for many politicians it was a problem that he would have had to leave as prime minister. He is considered both in Italy and abroad as the ideal person to implement the reforms requested by the European Commission and to manage the approximately 200 billion euros in European recovery fund (both grants and loans). That’s why many parliamentarians wanted him to stay on as prime minister. In addition, he knows how to keep left-wing and right-wing parties in the governing coalition together.