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| Votes for porn stars and footballers in farcical Italian presidential election | Votes for porn stars and footballers in farcical Italian presidential election |
| (7 days later) | |
| The porn star Rocco Siffredi, actor Sophia Loren and the Manchester City FC manager, Roberto Mancini, all received a vote in Italy's presidential election on Thursday night, as black humour and blank votes dominated the second ballot of a contest that plunged the beleaguered centre-left into crisis. | The porn star Rocco Siffredi, actor Sophia Loren and the Manchester City FC manager, Roberto Mancini, all received a vote in Italy's presidential election on Thursday night, as black humour and blank votes dominated the second ballot of a contest that plunged the beleaguered centre-left into crisis. |
| In the first ballot to elect a successor to Giorgio Napolitano, the centre-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani was dealt a stinging blow when the candidate he had backed for head of state garnered 521 votes – far short of the two-thirds majority needed. | In the first ballot to elect a successor to Giorgio Napolitano, the centre-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani was dealt a stinging blow when the candidate he had backed for head of state garnered 521 votes – far short of the two-thirds majority needed. |
| Although Franco Marini, a former trade union leader and senate speaker, was supported by Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right and Mario Monti's small centrist bloc, he was rejected by many in Bersani's own Democratic party (PD) and by the other main players in his centre-left alliance, the Left Ecology Freedom (SEL) party. | Although Franco Marini, a former trade union leader and senate speaker, was supported by Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right and Mario Monti's small centrist bloc, he was rejected by many in Bersani's own Democratic party (PD) and by the other main players in his centre-left alliance, the Left Ecology Freedom (SEL) party. |
| The so-called consensus candidate, therefore, appeared to have served only to exacerbate existing divisions in the fragile PD. | The so-called consensus candidate, therefore, appeared to have served only to exacerbate existing divisions in the fragile PD. |
| In the second ballot, most members of the centre-right and centre-left blocs appeared to have cast blank votes, with the candidate of the Five Star Movement, academic Stefano Rodotà, receiving the only significant support. | In the second ballot, most members of the centre-right and centre-left blocs appeared to have cast blank votes, with the candidate of the Five Star Movement, academic Stefano Rodotà, receiving the only significant support. |
| The tense atmosphere in the lower house of parliament, where the election took place, was alleviated only by the occasional vote for an Italian celebrity such as Maurizio Merli, an actor from the 1970s, and footballing legend Giovanni Trapattoni. | The tense atmosphere in the lower house of parliament, where the election took place, was alleviated only by the occasional vote for an Italian celebrity such as Maurizio Merli, an actor from the 1970s, and footballing legend Giovanni Trapattoni. |
| Italy has been locked in political stalemate since parliamentary elections in February which gave the PD an outright majority in one house but not in the other. | Italy has been locked in political stalemate since parliamentary elections in February which gave the PD an outright majority in one house but not in the other. |
| Whoever becomes the next president will have to decide whether the politicians can be persuaded into a stable government, or whether a fresh election is the only way forward. The presidency has itself been seen as a bargaining chip in the fraught negotiation efforts. | Whoever becomes the next president will have to decide whether the politicians can be persuaded into a stable government, or whether a fresh election is the only way forward. The presidency has itself been seen as a bargaining chip in the fraught negotiation efforts. |
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