Silvio Berlusconi. File photoROME, Jan 22Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has abandoned his intention to run for president, La Repubblica newspaper reports. A statement on behalf of Berlusconi was read by Senator Licia Ronzulli during an online meeting of coalition representatives, in which the leader of the Forza Italia party did not participate. #34;, — the politician said in his appeal.
Earlier Saturday, Berlusconi held an online meeting with his party's leadership and government ministers from his villa in Arcore near Milan. During the meeting, the second person in Forward Italia, Antonio Tajani, said that the party's course is to continue the work of the current prime minister Mario Draghi, who is considered by many analysts as a possible future president of the republic. After Berlusconi's refusal two days before the vote, a situation has developed in which the centre-right, nor their opponents from the left flag, have not announced their candidacies.In Italy, a discussion arose over the result of Mussolini's granddaughter in the elections. Later, a post appeared on Berlusconi's Facebook account in which the former prime minister explained the reasons for his refusal. The politician said that after meetings with the electors, he «discovered the existence of a sufficient number of votes for election.» He called the reasons for the demarche the need to preserve «the unity of the country» and to ensure the continuation of the work of the current government. At the same time, in the run-up to the vote, local media and analysts agreed that Berlusconi would not have been able to get enough votes for election, and the withdrawal of his candidacy was only a matter of time. According to leaks from the meeting of the center-right coalition, its participants found contradictions regarding the continuation of the powers of the current composition parliament. During the meeting, the representatives of the parties «Forward, Italy», «League» and «Brothers of Italy» did not put forward proposals for candidates and did not establish any veto. joint meeting of both chambers, in which delegates from all 20 regions of the country also participate. The election of the head of state «is carried out by secret ballot by a two-thirds majority of the assembly.» However, after the third round, it is enough to get a simple majority of votes to be elected.