Scandal-plagued Silvio Berlusconi drops out of race to become next Italian president
Categories: FOREIGN COUNTRIES
Silvio Berlusconi has dropped out of the race to become next Italian president due to health issues.The former premier claimed that he had the votes to win but the country could ill-afford political divisions during the pandemic.Berlusconi added that the presidency “represents the unity of the nation, of the country that I love and to whose service I placed myself for 30 years, with all my energies, my abilities, my competency.” “We had said it clearly — the candidacy of Berlusconi was unacceptable,″ Conte tweeted. ”With his withdrawal we can take a step forward and begin a serious comparison among political forces to offer to the country a figure of high profile, authoritative, widely shared.”Berlusconi also announced that he is opposing, along with his allies in a center-right bloc, any bid for the presidency by Prime Minister Mario Draghi. Draghi, the former head of the European Central Bank, has made clear he would like the job, but the broad sweep of parties that support his coalition are holding back from endorsing him for fear his departure could trigger early national elections.The election, conducted by secret ballot among more than 1,000 parliamentarians and regional representatives, is an unpredictable process often taking several days. Italy's rightist coalition had asked him to Berlusconi, but his bid was unlikely to be successful due to difficulties in mustering the broad support traditionally needed among more than 1,000 lawmakers and regional delegates.The four-times prime minister had major heart surgery in 2016 and has survived prostate cancer. He has been repeatedly admitted to hospital over the past year after contracting COVID-19 in 2020.