Prodi or Berlusconi after Mattarella? Are you really sure?
Both Prodi and Berlusconi have never managed to hide the loving grudge with which they keep the memory of some of their crucial defeats. II italics by Teo Dalavecuras
Enrico Letta said that talking about the Quirinale two months in advance ”is an absolutely wrong choice: I think it is wise to focus on the things to do today. Quirinale will be discussed in January ".
If this – which sounds like obvious to the man in the street – made the headlines, it was enthusiastically welcomed by the other party leaders and interpreted by the subtle and expert Paolo Mieli as a clue to a agreement in progress if not already concluded between the aforementioned party leaders on the name of the next president of the Republic, means that the long queue of real or presumed candidates for the Quirinale will soon be shortened.
But the media hype on this topic shows no sign of abating, given that the already long list of potential aspirants are added every day by new, latest or penultimate names – I lost count – those of Paola Severino and Rosy Bindi who, according to practice, have hurry to deny. As it turns out, however, they have not unequivocally denied either Silvio Berlusconi or Romano Prodi, who cannot be said to neglect their visibility these days (if they ever did).
If I may take the liberty of expressing a layman's opinion on matters of political politics and even more so of quirinal affairs, the election of one of the two historical rivals of the "bipolar" season (with many quotes) of Italian politics would give a bad blow to the an institution that has so far survived, rightly or wrongly, the discredit that, in recent years, has not spared even metaphorically sacred places like the Bank of Italy, or literally like the Throne of Peter.
I say this without any reference to either the history or the personal qualities of Berlusconi or Prodi, whose deeds I have been following for decades and for whom I have sincere admiration even though I have almost never shared – as a voter – his political choices. Probably, for their personal qualities they are well above other real or presumed aspirants to the quirinal "throne".
The fact is that both Prodi and Berlusconi have never managed to hide the loving grudge with which they keep the memory of some of their crucial defeats, that of Prodi at the hands of the 100 franc shooters (but Prodi points out: "they were at least 120" ) that seven years ago they blocked his way to the Quirinale, that of Berlusconi at the hands of a judicial order that he had chosen to challenge head-on.
Any motivation can justify the ambition to climb to the top of the Italian institutional pyramid, the dream of becoming, "when I grow up", President of the Republic, except – in my humble opinion – one: the spirit of revenge. Because it would degrade the institution.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/prodi-berlusconi-quirinale/ on Tue, 16 Nov 2021 10:08:43 +0000.