A good month before the parliamentary elections in Italy, the parties submitted their lists of candidates.
In some regions this leads to a meeting of old friends.
In the economically strongest region of Lombardy, for example, ex-government leaders Matteo Renzi from the center party Italia Viva and Silvio Berlusconi from the conservative Forza Italia are running.
You appear as a candidate for the Senate in Rome but also on lists of other regions.
For Berlusconi, it would be a return to the smaller chamber of parliament after the 85-year-old was kicked out in 2013 after being convicted of tax fraud.
His partner Marta Fascina, who is 53 years his junior, is running in Lombardy, but for the larger Chamber of Deputies.
After the resignation of the outgoing Prime Minister Mario Draghi, the people of Italy are called upon to elect a new parliament on September 25th.
According to observers, the centre-right alliance of the far-right Fratelli d'Italia, the Lega and Forza Italia, which is currently leading in the polls, is building on old political promises such as more pensions and tax cuts.
If it stays that way, Fratelli boss Giorgia Meloni could become Italy's first female prime minister after an agreement with her coalition partners.
But many Italians are still undecided.
Centre-left alliance wants to continue Draghi agenda
The parties had until late Monday evening to submit their lists.
The occupation traditionally leads to disputes.
The right-wing Lega is represented by Claudio Durigon, who sparked heated debates a year ago with the suggestion that a park in the city of Latina be named after the brother of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.
The Social Democrats criticized his candidacy.
For Forza Italia, for example, the president of the Lazio football club, Claudio Lotito, is running for the Senate for the second time.
In the 2018 elections, he failed to get the necessary number of votes.
In autumn 2021, a court sentenced him to a two-month ban as club president because his club had not properly submitted the results of positive corona tests a year earlier.
The Social Democrats (PD) were recently rumbling when politicians were criticized for anti-Israel statements from the past and a video appeared showing a dubious argument between several PD politicians.
Two politicians subsequently withdrew their candidacy.
The centre-left alliance with the Social Democrats wants to continue the Draghi agenda.
The alliance of Renzis Italia Viva together with the Azione party even wants to bring the non-party Draghi back into office as head of government.
Meanwhile, the Five Star Movement has no alliance. Since around two-thirds of the seats in parliament are distributed by proportional representation, the lists of the party alliances are more important than those of the individual candidates.
This also explains why Italy's very person-centric parties like to put their leaders at the top of these lists.