There is now little, very little, for the political game that will end with the election of the new President of the Republic to formally come to life. On Tuesday, January 4, the publication in the Official Journal of the letters with which the President of the Chamber Roberto Fico summons the 1008 electors for the first meeting of the parliament in a “joint session arrangement” is expected. The day to mark on the agenda should be January 24th.
Beyond the political strategies that will take shape in the individual votes, the specter of the race of Covid infections, in the form of the Omicron variant, puts at risk the presence in the classroom of deputies, senators and representatives of the Regions. The pandemic is a far from secondary factor of uncertainty over the race to the Colle. There is not only the unknown represented by the snipers, covered by the secret photo. There is also Omicron, so much so that the Chamber is already evaluating possible counter-moves.
The specter of the race of Covid infections
The Covid unknown therefore risks upsetting the abacus of votes for the election of the Head of State. The first concrete calculations will begin to be done in the next few hours. In fact, the Senate meets on Monday 3 January. Next week, Monday 10, it will be the turn of the first 2022 assembly of the House. The feeling, already in this preliminary phase, is that in the Parliament in joint session the absentees because they are positive for Covid or in quarantine will be more than those who were registered at the end of December.
The framework on the occasion of the green light for the maneuver
On the occasion of the approval of the maneuver, in fact, thirty deputies (about 5%) and about ten senators (3%) remained at home for these reasons. The virus has so far affected politics in a bipartisan manner. The specter that the impact of the Omicron variant during the holidays can be felt immediately, also in light of the jump in the positivity rate from 13% to 21.9% in the last 24 hours, therefore stands out over the entire hemicycle.
The Montecitorio committee meets
Among the big voters, the hope is that in the next 2-3 weeks the contagion curve will drop, otherwise there is a risk of around a hundred absentees. Here then is that the Chamber begins to evaluate counter-moves. In the next few hours, the Montecitorio committee made up of doctors and experts will meet for the first time. It has the task of proposing adjustments to the procedures to guarantee the health of the participants of an event which, among other things, will also attract a large number of journalists to the Palace. If the first scheduled by Fico is not enough to elect Sergio Mattarella’s successor, whose mandate expires on February 3, any other votes will be scheduled with the group leaders. We will proceed with only one ballot per day.