Italian artists call for the country’s next president to be a woman

Actresses, singers, novelists and other figures from the world of culture in Italy have asked politicians this Sunday to elect a woman to replace Sergio Mattarella as head of the Presidency of the Republic, as his term expires on February 3.

“It is time for a woman to arrive at the Quirinal (headquarters of the Headquarters of the State). We believe that the time has come to give shape to that idea of ​​gender equality, so shared and supported by the most democratic and progressive forces in our country “, stated today personalities such as the writers Dacia Maraini, Melania Mazzucco, Michela Murgia or Stefania Auci; the singer Fiorella Mannoia, or the actress Sabina Guzzanti, among others, in an appeal published in the media.

“Many women have earned the respect, trust and admiration in public office and we refuse to think that they do not have the charisma, skills and authority” to hold such a position, they added.

Mattarella has been in charge of the Head of State for seven years and does not want to renew for a second term, as he has made clear on several occasions.

In fact, on December 31, he addressed Italians in his New Year’s Eve speech with a farewell: “I have always lived this moment with emotion, but this year even more because in a few days, as the Constitution indicates, I will conclude my mandate as president, “he stressed.

In the coming days, the parties will draw alliances to support a substitute and the election must be carried out by the majority of Parliament, since if it is not achieved it would mean the dissolution of the Chambers and the calling of elections, something that would benefit the the extreme right, as polls have shown for months.

The voting start date will be announced next Tuesday, January 4, and will probably be from the second half of the month.

The parties of the right, which together have the greatest weight in Parliament, have already started talks to find a suitable candidate.

The Minister of Regional Affairs and member of the conservative Forza Italia (led by Silvio Berlusconi), Mariastella Gelmini, said this Sunday in an interview with the newspaper The print that Berlusconi would be “a sign of national pacification.”

At the same time, he rejected that the current prime minister, Mario Draghi, could be the new president of the Republic, as he believed that it is important that the legislature be exhausted until 2023 and “there is no alternative” to the former head of the European Central Bank who can support a parliamentary majority as heterogeneous as the current one, of which only the far-right party, Brothers of Italy, is out. (I)