In the hands of the President

Here we are: after months of discussions, bets, battles more or less in the light of the sun, we finally get to the heart of the election of the new President of the Republic. And as in any self-respecting presidential vote there is no shortage and there will be no shortage of secret negotiations, surprising plots, compromises or messes this time around. The post, seven years at the Quirinale, is desired by many and there is no political leader who does not have the more or less secret ambition of being voted by the big voters until he reaches the quorum necessary to become Head of State.

An ambition that has been felt even more in recent years, since the President of the Republic has increasingly become the center of balance around which all the other powers revolve: political, economic, domestic and international. Faced with the disappearance of parties, in a society crossed by anxieties and uncertainties, the tenant of the Quirinale has taken on an increasingly important and almost miraculous role in the face of the evils of the Italian political system as confirmed by Marco Damilano, director of L'Espresso and author of the volume "Il Presidente" (La nave di Teseo, 2021, pp. 352, also e-book) in which he reconstructs the elections of the past intertwining them with the stories of the presidents who have succeeded one another from the postwar period to today:

“The role of the President of the Republic has always been important, but not as central as it has been for some decades now, as evidenced by the spasmodic interest that now surrounds every election. Until 1992 the Head of State had a guarantee function, he acted as a facilitator between the parties. And he was a sort of notary who took note and certified the decisions taken in the secretariats of political groups ".

What changed then?

“The party system went into crisis and the presidents, from 1992 onwards, had to actively intervene to avoid the collapse of the Italian system. This change is already evident with Francesco Cossiga, whose presidency is a bit of a watershed between the first and second Republic. Elected in 1985, he had a notary attitude for five years, then he became the pickaxe of the party system. The need to intervene has become accentuated over time and has been confirmed with Sergio Mattarella who had to deal with the latter legislature born in 2018. A legislature without a political majority and with weak and neurotic leadership ".

In the latter period there has been much talk of Mario Draghi moving from Palazzo Chigi to the Quirinale. Do you want a president who also has the mandate to govern the country?

“It is as if we wanted to create a de facto semi-presidentialism that does not exist in our Constitution. A President of the Republic holding executive power would certainly be a constitutional stretch, but it is also true that the tenant of the Quirinale has a certain power: he appoints the head of government and ministers, on the proposal of the Prime Minister. Now for the first time we find ourselves considering the possibility that the government leader will move directly to the Quirinale, then having the possibility of giving the task of forming the new executive, perhaps to one of his current ministers. In fact, an epochal change, an institutional reform to take note of ".

What does a situation like this tell us about the state of health of our institutions?

“It tells us that things are not going well. Let's look only at what happened during the seven-year period of Mattarella: Parliament has increasingly lost its prerogatives by becoming a simple 'voting house' of government measures, a trend that the Covid emergency has accentuated. The parliamentary debate has disappeared, swept away by votes of confidence. And the Superior Council of the Judiciary is no better off, which is at the center of scandals and resignations of its members. It is de facto de-legitimized by its role of self-government of the judiciary. The current crisis also affects the executive since Mattarella had to give life to a government of national unity led by Draghi as politics gave the feeling of no longer being able to manage the country. The only institution that has remained standing is the Presidency of the Republic and the feeling is that if this cornerstone for Italy were to fail, it would collapse. This is why Mattarella's succession causes a lot of fibrillation even in Italian society ".

What will the election of the next Head of State be like?

“It will be an unprecedented election because for two years we have been experiencing an exceptional emergency and this will also affect the presidential vote. We do not know, for example, how many voters will not be able to be due to the Coronavirus. And then there is the Draghi factor, which catalyzes the favor and opposition of the opposing sides. So we are faced with an election with indefinite contours: it could close quickly or become complicated to open unexpected scenarios, as has happened so many times in the past with purebred horses crippled in sight of the arrival and the outsider who crosses the finish line coming out of nowhere. ".