Italian political party leaders have urged 80-year-old president Sergio Mattarella to change his mind and stay on for a second seven-year term amid concerns that protracted political squabbling will erode the nation’s credibility.
Mr Mattarella’s term ends on February 3.
In the run-up to the presidential election this week, Mr Mattarella repeatedly said he does not want another stint as the head of state.
He even rented an apartment in Rome to prepare for his move from the presidential palace on the Quirinal Hill.
But after a seventh round of balloting in six days in parliament by legislators and special regional representatives failed to yield any consensus on a presidential candidate, party whips and regional governors visited Mr Mattarella at the presidential palace to seek his willingness ahead of what could be the decisive vote Saturday evening.
Rai state TV said Italian premier Mario Draghi, a non-partisan former chief of the European Central Bank who is leading a pandemic unity government, telephoned party leaders to encourage the lobbying.
Mr Draghi had previously indicted he would be willing to move into the presidential role, but some party leaders featured that would prompt an early election.
Democratic Party chief Enrico Letta, whose senate whip was among the legislators meeting on Saturday with Mr Mattarella, indicated that Italy’s head of state had agreed to serve again if elected.
Mr Mattarella’s willingness “is a choice of generosity toward the country”, Mr Letta told a news conference minutes before Saturday’s second round of voting began.
“You don’t change a winning team,” former premier Matteo Renzi told reporters about the current leadership, with Mr Draghi, a reassuring figure to financial markets, and Mr Mattarella as president.
Voting began late on Saturday afternoon, with the count of the handwritten secret ballots expected several hours later.
As of Saturday morning, days of balloting by 1,009 eligible legislators and special regional delegates failed to give any one candidate the minimum 505 votes needed for victory.
A chorus of Italian politicians have called for Mr Mattarella to reconsider.
Former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, who heads the centre-right Forza Italia party he founded, said that unity “can only be found around the figure of President Sergio Mattarella, of whom we know we’re asking a great sacrifice”.
Health minister Roberto Speranza, who heads a small left-wing party, told reporters that Mr Mattarella’s re-election would be crucial for “a context of stability for Italy”.
Former premier Giuseppe Conte, the head of the populist 5-Star Movement, the Italian parliament’s largest force, also joined in the calls.
“Mattarella is the guarantor of everybody, impartial, authoritative,” he told reporters.
Until 2013, no president had served a second term.
Then, a similar political stalemate among the members of parliament and regional delegates in several rounds of balloting ended when Giorgio Napolitano, a former Communist leader, agreed to accept a second mandate.
Mr Napolitano resigned in 2015, when he was nearly 90, clearing the way for the election that made Mr Mattarella head of state.
In Saturday’s first round of voting, Mr Mattarella garnered 387 votes, 51 more than he received in Friday evening’s vote, where momentum for a second mandate started gaining traction.
