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Or Mario Draghi or Sergio Mattarella or an unprecedented move. After an intense and exhausting week of negotiations and voting at the Palazzo di Montecitorio, the bets are back exactly as they were at the beginning, with the two great figures of the state as favorites and only one novelty, but of weight: the integers that

wins , the head of the secret services. There has been no backing for names officially submitted by right-wing parties.

. And there has not been, either, any symptom of appetite for politicians, whether they were active institutional positions, former ministers or respected jurists, professors or analysts. Italy has six consecutive votes, is preparing for two more this Saturday and the outlook, although clear of noise, remains cloudy.

Friday's session was marked by the resounding failure of the center right. The League, Forza Italia and Brothers of Italy launched the candidacy of

, Berlusconi's former lawyer and president of the Senate,

with great fanfare .

The left responded by announcing the blank vote, but as a defensive measure. Who wants to opt for the Quirinale needs to add 505 ballots and although the right does not arrive, since it adds between 440 and 450, depending on the alliances are calculated, the defection of a little more than 50 'snipers', which is how they are nicknamed in the Italian politics to free verses when the processes are anonymized. To avoid scares, Letta, Renzi and company ordered the abstention, which is recorded, and the play could not have turned out better.

Casellati got 382 votes, a ridiculous frightening.

For her, that he sent endless messages to deputies and senators since the night before asking for her commitment, and for the block, which showed leaks everywhere.

Salvini and Meloni lashed out at Forza Italia and the other main ally, the hybrid Courage Italia, accusing them of breaking discipline, of having no principles and no vision.

And in the midst of a civil war, the candidate's options died forever.

And Salvini, already accepting the inevitable, multiplying meetings, encounters and negotiations to offer an honorable solution as soon as possible before there is a bloodletting between his supporters and his voters.

Snipers and possible stabbings in the back marked a long and tense day, the first with two votes, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. It is the only thing that the games managed to agree on, redouble the pace on Friday and also on Saturday, when an outcome is expected. It is not certain, but it is possible. "I am optimistic," said

, leader of the Democratic Party, "but not very optimistic because it is complicated."

. The first call is at 09:30 and if there is no white smoke, the second at 16:30.

A good part of the big voters have already lost their patience and want to stop fooling around, forget "the game of the goose", as they have baptized coming and going, going up and down in a gymkhana that leads nowhere. They believe that the time has come for the profiles that can unite everyone, and

and who does not want to prolong his stay as head of state and

. His name was resurrected yesterday, after having appeared the first few days and having been ruled out as absurd.

She is the head of the secret services,

. As she was the first to lead the Crisis Unit in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the first at the head of Cooperation and Development, the first female chief of staff also at Farnesina. The first times that her name was slipped, it sounded in fact for technical prime minister if Draghi changed roles, but on Friday both Matteo Salvini and

championed the cause of a woman, at whatever cost, and various sources from across the spectrum confirmed that the name is on the table, but without specifying the fit. Like that of the Minister of Justice, and Mattarella's partner in the Constitutional Court, Marta Cartabia.

, former president of the Chamber of Deputies, is always in the bedroom, without great champions but managing to survive without burning.

She is an official with an impeccable career, a servant of the State, seen well by a Five-Star sector, but

nor do they know the skills required for that particular and delicate function in a moment of fragmentation and with the economic recovery halfway.

There are elections in 2023 and being a president with that pressure will not be easy at all.

Ironically, this is what drives some parties, who prefer anything to a world-class figure like Draghi or Mattarella himself, too strong, too respected, too expert.

The main question, in any case, is

and more so in a country where the leaders have so many dead bodies in the closet and so many friends in Russia.

The Belloni and Draghi duo, who are not politicians but technicians, in the two main instances was unthinkable for most professional politicians, but

although contrary to what the last week.

Draghi, who aspires to the Quirinale, held meetings with the leaders yesterday, but without progress.

He is not his favorite, he is the most feared, but everyone knows that if things get complicated, it can be a more than worthy exit.

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• Italy

• Matteo Salvini

• Russia

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• Sergio Mattarella

• mario draghi

UkraineThe dangerous friendships of Italy and Russia

Wide AngleItaly against itself: it chooses a president rushing the miracle of Mario Draghi

EuropaItaly faces the final phase to elect a president between traps, maneuvers and fears of betrayal

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