Head of state of Italy
The
president of Italy
, officially titled
President of the Italian Republic
(
Italian
:
Presidente della Repubblica Italiana
), is the
head of state
of
Italy
. In that role, the president represents national unity, and guarantees that
Italian politics
comply with the
Constitution
. The president is the
commander-in-chief
of the
Italian Armed Forces
and chairs the
High Council of the Judiciary
. A president's term of office lasts for seven years.
[2]
The incumbent president is former
constitutional judge
Sergio Mattarella
, who was
elected on 31 January 2015
,
[3]
and
re-elected on 29 January 2022
.
[4]
Qualifications for office
[
edit
]
The framers of the
Constitution of Italy
intended for the president to be an elder statesman of some stature. Article 84
[2]
states that any Italian citizen who is fifty or older on election day and enjoys civil and political rights can be elected president. The article also states that the presidency is incompatible with any other office; therefore, the
president-elect
must resign any other position before being sworn in.
The 1948 Constitution sets the presidential term at seven years. It does not put any
term limit
on the presidency,
[2]
although until 2013 no president ever ran for a second term. On 20 April 2013, President
Giorgio Napolitano
agreed to run for a second term in an attempt to break the parliamentary deadlock in the
2013 presidential elections
and was duly reelected the same day.
[5]
However, he made it clear that he would not serve his full term and resigned in January 2015.
Election
[
edit
]
The president of the Italian Republic is elected by an
electoral college
of 658 members (1,009 in the
2022 election
, before the
2020 Italian constitutional referendum
which reduced the number of elected parliament members). It comprises both chambers of the Italian Parliament?the
Chamber of Deputies
and the
Senate of the Republic
?meeting in
joint session
, combined with 58 special electors appointed by the
regional councils
of the 20
regions of Italy
. Three representatives come from each region (save for the
Aosta Valley
, which due to its small size only appoints one), so as to guarantee representation for localities and minorities. The electoral college currently consists of:
According to the Constitution, the election must be held by a
secret ballot
, with the senators, deputies and regional representatives all being
required to vote
. A
two-thirds vote
is required to elect on any of the first three rounds of balloting and after that a
simple majority
suffices. The number of rounds has often been large thanks to the secret ballot and fragmented nature of the Italian Parliament.
[6]
The election is presided over by the
president of the Chamber of Deputies
, who calls for the public counting of the votes. The vote is held in the
Palazzo Montecitorio
, seat of the Chamber of Deputies, which is expanded and re-configured for the event.
There is no formal personal candidacy but only proposals from groups within the electoral college or from groups of no fewer than half a million citizens, so any citizen may be voted or elected, regardless of any expressed intention to be a candidate.
Members of the electoral college, mostly being part of political parties, can make public or undisclosed agreements between each other on a name to vote as candidate, but the votes during the ballot remain secret as only the candidate's name is revealed but not the voter who wrote it so it's not always clear, especially to the public, if such agreements are there and if a party or a group of voters actually comply with them during a ballot.
For these reasons, during the ballots, there could be votes for public figures not related to politics (actors, singers, soccer players for example or even fictitious characters) or non feasible candidates. Those kinds of votes are not fully beyond a political strategy, considering they're secret and that the first ballots requires a larger winning majority. They may be used to express discontent about the potential actual candidates, to test or show if a candidate is willing to become president at that moment, to spoil secondary candidates in order to increase interest in main candidates for future ballots, to spoil a potential candidate of the adversary party at the first ballots or to let other parties express their more interesting candidates before a potential winning ballot.
Often a successful vote is reached when the major political parties within the chambers reached an agreement on a willing candidate before that final ballot and their members comply with such agreement during the vote.
Presidential mandate
[
edit
]
The president of the Italian Republic assumes office after
taking an oath
before the Italian Parliament and delivering a presidential address.
The term of the president of the Italian Republic lasts seven years. This prevents any officeholder from being reelected by the same houses, which have a five-year mandate, also granting some freedom from excessive political ties to the appointing body. The Italian president's term may end prematurely by voluntary resignation, death while in office, permanent disability due to serious illness, or impeachment and conviction for the crimes of high treason or attack on the Constitution.
A former president of the Republic is called president
emeritus
of the Republic and becomes
Senator for life
ex officio
. In the absence of the president of the republic, including travel abroad, presidential functions are performed by the
president of the Senate
.
[2]
Legal powers
[
edit
]
The Constitution lays out the duties and powers of the president of the republic, including the following:
- In foreign affairs:
- Accrediting and receiving diplomatic functionaries.
- Ratifying international treaties upon authorization of Parliament (if required according to Article 80 of the Constitution).
- Making
official visits
abroad, accompanied by a member of the government.
- Declaring a
state of war
as decided by Parliament.
- In parliamentary affairs:
- Appointing
senators for life
(that may be up to five altogether).
- Calling the Chambers of Parliament into extraordinary session and dissolving them.
- Calling elections and fixing the date for the first meeting of the new Chambers.
- In legislative matters:
- Authorizing the presentation of proposed governmental bills to Parliament.
- Promulgating the laws approved by the Parliament.
- Sending a bill back to the parliament (with an explanation) and asking for its reconsideration (only permitted once per bill).
- Regarding popular sovereignty.
- In executive matters and as to official protocol.
- Appointing the
prime minister of Italy
and Cabinet ministers on the advice of the prime minister.
- Receiving the oath of the government.
- Accepting the resignation of a government.
- Promulgating government decrees. Without further approval by Parliament, these measures
expire
after 60 days.
- Appointing certain high state functionaries.
- Presiding over the
Consiglio Supremo di Difesa
(Supreme Defense Council) and commanding all the armed forces.
- Decreeing the dissolution of regional councils and the removal of presidents of regions.
- In judicial matters:
- Presiding over the
Consiglio Superiore della Magistratura
(Superior Judicial Council).
- Appointing 5 members (one-third) of the
Constitutional Court of Italy
.
- Granting
pardons
and commutations.
- Cannot be punished for acts appertaining to his office unless guilty of
high treason
or violation of the Constitution. (article 90 of the Italian constitution)
- It is a crime to undermine his honour or prestige. (article 278 of the Italian penal code)
- Others:
In practice, the president's office has little real independent authority. The Constitution provides that nearly all presidential acts must be countersigned by the prime minister or an individual minister since actual political responsibility rests with the government. Most presidential powers are only formal and must be exercised through the government, while many of the others are duties that the president is required to perform. However, pardons and commutations have been recognized as autonomous powers of the president.
However, the president's role is not entirely ceremonial. For example, the president’s ability to send a piece of legislation back to Parliament is not taken lightly by legislators. While the president is required to promulgate the law if it is passed a second time, in practice legislators are unlikely to ignore his objections to legislation unless the measure is critical.
[7]
Moreover, the president's few powers expand when there is no clear majority in Parliament. During these times, the president has significant latitude in appointing prime ministers, such as when
President Scalfaro
appointed
Lamberto Dini
as prime minister against the wishes of outgoing Prime Minister
Silvio Berlusconi
,
[7]
or when President Napolitano appointed
Mario Monti
in 2011 and
Enrico Letta
in 2013.
[8]
This latitude extends even further to cabinet appointments, as in 2018 when
President Mattarella
blocked the appointment of
Paolo Savona
to the
Ministry of Economy and Finance
. Mattarella felt that Savona's
Euroscepticism
would endanger Italy's relationship with the EU; he took the line that as the guardian of the Constitution, he could not allow this to happen.
[9]
Succession
[
edit
]
According to Article 86
[2]
of the Constitution, in all the cases in which the president is unable to perform the functions of the office, these shall be performed by the president of the Senate, who would temporarily serve as
acting president of Italy
.
In the event of permanent incapacity, death in office or resignation of the president, the president of the Chamber of Deputies shall call an election of a new president within fifteen days, notwithstanding the longer term envisaged during the dissolution of the
Parliament
or in the three months preceding dissolution.
Residence
[
edit
]
The officeholder resides in
Rome
at the
Quirinal Palace
and also has at his disposal the presidential holdings of
Castelporziano
,
[10]
near Rome and
Villa Rosebery
in
Naples
.
[11]
The residence at the Quirinal is guarded by the
Corazzieri
, an elite
cuirassier
honor guard
that is part of the
Carabinieri
and has its historical roots in the guards of the
House of Savoy
.
[12]
Timeline
[
edit
]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
MacBeth, Alex (2 February 2012).
"Roman Austerity: Parliamentary Salary Cuts a Drop in the Bucket"
.
Spiegel Online
(in Italian). Spiegel Online International.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
"The Italian Constitution"
. The official website of the Presidency of the Italian Republic.
- ^
"Italy elects senior judge Sergio Mattarella as president"
.
Reuters
. 31 January 2015
. Retrieved
14 November
2019
.
- ^
Reguly, Eric (29 January 2022).
"Italy ends voting deadlock by re-electing Sergio Mattarella as president, keeping Mario Draghi as prime minister"
.
The Globe and Mail
. Retrieved
30 January
2022
.
- ^
"President Giorgio Napolitano re-elected"
. BBC News. 20 April 2013.
- ^
James., Newell (2010).
The politics of Italy : governance in a normal country
. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
ISBN
9780521840705
.
OCLC
437084143
.
- ^
a
b
Donald, Hancock, M. (27 February 2014).
Politics in Europe
(Sixth ed.). Thousand Oaks, California.
ISBN
9781452241463
.
OCLC
863193454
.
{{
cite book
}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link
) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link
)
- ^
Donadio, Rachel (24 April 2013).
"Italian President Nominates New Prime Minister"
.
The New York Times
.
ISSN
0362-4331
. Retrieved
20 March
2019
.
- ^
Poggioli, Sylvia (28 May 2018).
"In Italy, Populists' Bid To Form Government Fails After Presidential Veto"
.
NPR.org
. Retrieved
20 March
2019
.
- ^
web, Segretariato generale della Presidenza della Repubblica-Servizio sistemi informatici- reparto.
"The residences: The Castelporziano Presidential Estate"
.
Quirinale
. Retrieved
20 March
2019
.
- ^
web, Segretariato generale della Presidenza della Repubblica-Servizio sistemi informatici- reparto.
"Villa Rosebery ? The Park"
.
Quirinale
. Retrieved
20 March
2019
.
- ^
web, Segretariato generale della Presidenza della Repubblica-Servizio sistemi informatici- reparto.
"the Italian Corps of Cuirassiers"
.
Quirinale
. Retrieved
20 March
2019
.
External links
[
edit
]
Links to related articles
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