Quirinale, the election of the President of the Italian Republic according to the social media

The race for the Quirinal in Italy is not only a matter for Parliament but also for social networks. Social networks are going wild in these hectic days in which the leaders of Italian politics are engaged in negotiations to choose the next head of state.

The race for the Quirinal, as seen from social networks

To address the situation is Osservatorio Quirinale, a project by Blogmeter and Arcadia that is studying the social profiles of the 1,008 Italian voters called upon to choose the new Head of State these days. At the center of the conversations of parliamentarians and regional delegates (i.e., those called upon to vote for the next Italian President) and ordinary users of the network, until a few days ago, there was one name, that of Silvio Berlusconi. The hypothetical candidacy of the former Prime Minister has sparked the network, and for days the hashtag #Berlusconi has gone crazy. On Saturday, January 22, the former Prime Minister announced the step back, not for lack of numbers but in favor of national unity. 

According to AdnKronos, social networks have their own President: Mario Draghi is the most quoted person when talking about the Quirinale, according to the research carried out by AdnKronos through Human, a web and social listening platform. 

In this ranking, Mario Draghi dominates with 63,98% of the mentions, followed by Berlusconi with 22,15%. All the others follow, including Gianni Letta 3,84%, Marta Cartabia 3,27%, Letizia Moratti 1,47%.

Askanews, on the other hand, made use of Socialcom and Blogmeter for its analysis of web users’ conversations about the Quirinale. In this case, the most quoted is once again Silvio Berlusconi, with 30,000 posts, followed by 12,000 of Mario Draghi. 

But the curious thing is that even social networks apparently less related to politics, such as Instagram and Tik Tok, have produced 1.39 million posts on the Quirinale theme. 

Quirinale, where are we?

While social media goes wild, politicians still can’t come to a decision. Yesterday, the first ballot was held and ended in a deadlock. Most of the ballots were blank because there was no agreement between the political forces that sit in Parliament to elect the new Head of State. 

The most likely name seems to be that of the current Prime Minister Mario Draghi, but his election to the Colle would create a vacuum at Palazzo Chigi, and the parties of his majority want guarantees that this will not lead either to a prolonged crisis or to the early dissolution of the Chambers. 

Today the center-right composed of the Lega, Forza Italia, and Fratelli d’Italia should present a list of names that would include, according to rumors, the current President of the Senate Maria Elisabetta Casellati, the former magistrate Carlo Nordio and the former President of the Senate Marcello Pera.

On the left, minor parties such as Sinistra Italiana and Europa Verde will propose Luigi Manconi, former Senator of the Republic and President of the extraordinary parliamentary commission for the protection of human rights and director of the national office against racial discrimination. +Europa and Azione instead are determined by the current Minister of Justice Marta Cartabia. 

The PD, for its part, does not seem to have clear ideas and asks only non-divisive figures from the center-right. Yesterday the name of former Foreign Minister Franco Frattini was also mentioned, but neither the Democratic Party nor Matteo Renzi’s Italia Viva like him.

In short, except for last-minute twists and turns, nothing will happen today. It is very likely that the decisive day will be Thursday when the quorum will be lowered, and 505 votes will be enough to be elected. 

At that point, the candidacy of Mario Draghi could take hold definitively, or another one probably as the result of an agreement between the center-right and the opposing forces. Otherwise, in the background, there is the Mattarella bis, but the confirmation of the President of the Republic in the office is a hypothesis not contemplated by the person concerned and, above all, not provided for by Italian law. It had happened only in 2013 with the reappointment of Giorgio Napolitano, but they were other times.