Napolitano Re-elected President as Italy's Political Crisis Drags On

The Italian parliament on Saturday re- elected President Giorgio Napolitano to serve an unprecedented second term in an attempt to resolve the political stalemate caused by February's inconclusive parliamentary election. Napolitano was overwhelmingly elected by the 1,007 parliamentarians and regional representatives in a sixth round of voting after they had failed to find a mutually acceptable candidate in the previous attempts. As most of parliament cheered his re-election, a group of around 500 demonstrators protested outside, with a much larger rally planned later in the day. Normally, the presidency is a largely ceremonial position, but at times of political instability the president plays a crucial role in forming a government and has the power to dissolve parliament. At 87, Napolitano is one of the world's oldest heads of state and the fact that most of the main political forces virtually begged him to accept after he refused several times to be a candidate for re-election is a commentary on the state of Italian politics. Even Silvio Berlusconi visited him early on Saturday, apparenrly in an attempt to persuade him to continue as president. In almost two months since the parliamentary election, Napolitano has failed to broker a solution to the political gridlock, which left no coalition with enough seats in parliament to form a government. Napolitano is now expected to push for a broad coalition government. This possibility has been rejected by the center-left, which won most seats in the February election, as well as by the center-right led by Silvio Berlusconi. On Saturday, Mr. Napolitano became the first president in Italian history to secure a second seven-year term. "I consider it necessary to offer my availability," said Napolitano, who had been due to step down on 15 May. "I cannot shun my responsibility towards the nation," he added. Many of the demonstrators outside the Italian parliament were supporters of Beppe Grillo, the former comedian who is leader of the anti-corruption, anti-establishment 5-Star Movement. Grillo called on "millions" of Italians to join him in protest outside parliament later on Saturday to express their opposition to Napolitano's re-election which Grillo called a "coup d'etat." Parliament began the presidential election process on Thursday, but MPs voted five times without naming a winner. In desperation they turned to Napolitano, who should have been preparing to retire. And to make matters even worse, on Friday, the leader of Italy's center-left alliance, Pier Luigi Bersani, said he would resign as soon as a new president was elected. Bersani announced the news to his Democratic Party (PD) after many MPs in his center-left alliance refused to back his preferred candidate for president. Bersani’s departure will create a battle for leadership of the PD, which was founded in 2007 to unite numerous smaller, leftist and centrist parties. His resignation could pave the way for his rival, Matteo Renzi, the 38-year-old mayor of Florence. According to Reuters, Renzi enjoys wide public support, but is viewed with suspicion by the old PD hierarchy. The PD party won an outright majority in the lower house of parliament in February’s election, but not in the upper house, or senate. With Bersani's resignation, the future of the PD may now be in question. "The Democratic Party is tumbling down. This is the end of an era," according to Massimo Franco, a political commentator in the Italian daily Corriere della Sera. Three months ago, Bersani seemed poised to become the next Italian prime minister, but the deep political divisions in the country raise questions not only about finding a governing coalition but also about whether much needed economic reforms can be implemented to revive Italy's economy, stagnating for the past 20 years. While the newcomer 5-Star Movement got a quarter of all votes in the February election, in what was its first national election, reflecting the anger among Italians at economic hardship and political corruption, it remains unclear whether the 5-star Movement could even govern Italy. But if a governing parliamentary coalition is not formed soon, the newly elected President Napolitano will have to call for new elections - even though it is not clear that the outcome would be any better than in February. Italy's political crisis is a drag on Europe and on the Euro and someone must somehow put an end to it.