Voting begins for a new Italian President

(Vatican Radio) Italy's parliament began Thursday voting for a new head of state to succeed President Giorgio Napolitano, whose term ends on May 15. The vote is a crucial step towards resolving the stalemate since an inconclusive election in February which left no party with enough support to form a government.

Centre-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani on Wednesday proposed former Senate speaker Franco Marini as its candidate risking a split in his Democratic Party.
Meanwhile, The 5-Star Movement led by comic Beppe Grillo has backed academic Stefano Rodota.

Lydia O’Kane spoke to Professor of International Relations at the American University of Rome, James Walton about the President’s role as head of state, especially in light of the current political stalemate.

He says, “one of the reasons for the present stalemate is that Napolitano is constitutionally barred from dissolving parliament in his final six months…so he cannot use the sort of nuclear option available to the President to get the politicians to agree on anything. The new President will be able to do that.” Listen to Lydia O’Kane’s with Professor James Walston