The "Quirinal novel" closed after a week and dozens of names burned (especially from the right). From Mattarella to Mattarella, with Draghi staying at Palazzo Chigi and institutional continuity ensured at least for another year. Only the institutional one, however, because the six days and eight votes necessary to elect the President of the Republic have caused political upheavals not just.
But how did the various protagonists of the negotiations move? Little enough, because without detracting from that great Head of State who was and will be Sergio Mattarella, solutions had to be found to avoid a new encore, which is now becoming a rule as an exception.
Sergio Mattarella 10: He had already moved and repeatedly repeated that he was not available for an encore. In the end, obtorto collo, he had to accept, demonstrating a great sense of institutions. The game did not break free and the disputes could have repercussions on the government leading to early elections in a very delicate moment from the health, social and economic point of view, as he recalled in his brief statement from the Quirinale. So when Draghi picked up the phone and asked him to stay "for the good of the country" he didn't think twice. Just like a year ago with reversed parts, when it was Mattarella who asked Draghi to make himself available after the Conte bis crisis.
Enrico Letta 5.5: The typical strategy of inaction dem. Without doing practically anything, he nevertheless managed to achieve the desired result. Perhaps from a progressive leader one would expect more proactiveness, greater activism, a greater propensity for change. At least it is the one that has done the least damage, strengthening the relationship with LeU and Italia Viva with which the Democratic Party has moved practically in unison.
Silvio Berlusconi 5: He tried to fulfill his dream as "father of the country", he pulled out immediately when he realized that the numbers were not there. In the decisive week, alas, he was almost always at the San Raffaele and Tajani was managing the negotiations. From Forza Italia came the snipers against Elisabetta Casellati. The party is in fibrillation, increasingly disconnected from a center-right coalition with sovereign traction. But at the same time he doesn't know where to go. There is a lack of leadership and this is a great fault of the Cav and his personal party. Without him, Forza Italia is destined to dissolve. His move from San Raffaele was decisive on Friday evening: after Salvini's countless disasters he said enough, “now Forza Italia deals alone”, no delegation to the crippled center-right leader.
Matteo Salvini 2: A disaster: he has been saying for months “never a center-left man on the Hill, after 30 years we must give the country a center-right President”. Conclusion, at the Quirinale we are left with the man brought seven years ago by the Democratic Party. This would be enough, but the way in which we got there is if possible even more disastrous. He burned dozens of names including ambassadors, politicians, jurists and state officials, sending the second state office to massacre even though he knew it would not have reached a quorum, even if it had not been shot by the center-right itself. He burned the name of the head of the Secret Service announcing an agreement that obviously wasn't there. Reconstructing all his moves is impossible: first he wants to elect the new President with the center-right, then he looks for the axis with the hated Count, and finally he closes it together with the government majority. And he ends up claiming, with admirable courage: "I am happy that my proposal from Mattarella has become the proposal of many".
A week to forget, which questions his leadership both in the center-right and within the League itself, where many did not like the way he handled the negotiations.
Giorgia Meloni 6: An average between 4 for the institutional sense (the will to insist on imposing a center-right President despite not having the numbers) and 8 for the political result. His Crosetto and Nordio have gone far beyond the 63 great electors of Fratelli d'Italia, a sign that many from the Lega are ready to join the FDI. It can claim a coherent attitude and the "Quirinal novel" can definitely launch it towards the leadership of the center-right.
Giuseppe Conte 3: The initial strategy is that of Letta's immobility, more or less. With an aggravating circumstance: he does not even have control of the parliamentary groups which, pushed by Di Maio, from vote to vote increase the consensus for Mattarella. He makes a real move on Fridays, and it's a disaster. The name of the head of the Secret Service cannot be released without the certainty of having reached an agreement. Elisabetta Belloni was at the center of a very tough political conflict for one night. He "preferred" Salvini - with whom he had reached an agreement in principle also on Frattini - to the progressive alliance. From 2018 to today he has made turns.
Matteo Renzi 6: Anyone who thought that his position on the Zan bill was the general rehearsal of what would happen on the Quirinale must think again. No axis with the center-right, has indeed strengthened that with the Democratic Party, with which he played on the bank to defend Draghi. He renounced the bargaining power that he could have as a tip of the balance, preferring a solution that would keep the entire government majority united. A few minutes after the announcement of the agreement on Elisabetta Belloni intervenes on La7 and immediately we understand that that of the director of Dis is yet another name burned.
Luigi Di Maio 6: If that between him and Giuseppe Conte were a match, the result would be a sharp 3-0 for the minister. He controls the parliamentary groups more and better than the former prime minister, and from the beginning he goes to channel votes for Sergio Mattarella. Votes that grow day by day, sending a clear signal to the Head of State and other parties. Fulmina Conte with a vitriolic post after Belloni's candidacy: “It is unseemly that a high profile like that of Elisabetta Belloni has been thrown into the public debate. Without a shared agreement ". He moves behind the scenes like an old Christian Democrat. But the 5S voters are not with him and the former prime minister can definitively corner him with the two-term rule.
Mario Draghi 5.5: He will deny it, but the self-nomination for the Quirinale in the speech at the end of the year, the many meetings with the parties, were not good. He could have come out of it de-legitimized, but he comes out stronger than before, given that Mattarella has asked the parties (torn and weakened by the week of negotiations) for a guarantee that the government will last until 2023.