Amid the worst wave of Covid-19 cases in Italy since the start of the pandemic, President Sergio Mattarella gave the last end-of-year speech of his term this Friday (31) and sought to convey a message of hope.
Close to leaving office, the head of state spoke for around 15 minutes on national radio and television and did not try to disguise the farewell tone, although there are those who defend its maintenance.
“Dear fellow citizens, dear fellow citizens, I have always lived this traditional end-of-year commitment with a lot of involvement and a little emotion. Today these feelings are even greater due to the fact that, in a few days, as required by the Constitution, my term as president will end”, said Mattarella.
The jurist has held Italy's main institutional position since February 3, 2015 and, according to the Constitution, Parliament must choose a replacement by February 3, 2022.
The most popular name is that of the Prime Minister Mario Draghi, which, however, could open a new political crisis and even trigger early elections, as it would be difficult for another prime minister to be able to keep a coalition that goes from the left to the extreme right standing.
“It was seven years of hard work, complex, dense with emotions,” added the head of state, citing terrorism, natural disasters and the new coronavirus pandemic, which produced dramatic scenes in the country.
“In the last few days, I have turned my thoughts to what we have experienced together over the last two years: the pandemic that has shaken the world and our lives. Let us unite once again around the families of the many victims, their mourning was, and is, the mourning of all of Italy”, she highlighted.
However, despite the long periods of isolation and the recent explosion of cases caused by the Ômicron variant, Italy had a better 2021 than 2020 in the pandemic: if last year there were 74.159 victims of Covid in the country, in 2021 there were 63.243, with most of it in the first quarter.
Furthermore, Italy saw its economy begin a recovery path, amid the promise of a contribution of almost 200 billion euros in resources from the European Union, and boasts one of the highest vaccination rates in the bloc, with almost 80% of the population with the first immunization cycle completed.
“We find within ourselves the tools to react, to rebuild. This path began. It will be long and will not be immune to difficulties, but the country's economic conditions have recovered beyond expectations”, declared the president.
Esperança
According to Mattarella, Italy is “ready to welcome the new year” and lives a “moment of hope”. “Let us look ahead, knowing that the destiny of Italy also depends on each one of us. We often speak of a new season of duty. We often emphasize that difficulties can only be overcome if everyone agrees to do their part until the end,” she declared.
There was also no shortage of a message for anti-vaccines, in a country where around 6 million people aged 12 and over have not even taken the first dose of anti-Covid vaccines.
“Research and science gave us this opportunity [of vaccines] much earlier than anyone could have expected. Wasting it is also an insult to those who did not have this opportunity and to those who still cannot have it today. Vaccines have saved thousands of lives and greatly reduced the dangerousness of the disease,” he said.
Mattarella recalled “feeling of helplessness and despair” experienced in the first months of the pandemic in the face of dramatic scenes, such as “coffins transported by military vehicles”, the lockdown, closed schools and “collapsing hospitals”. “What wouldn’t we give, in those days, to have the vaccine?”, she asked.
The president has 80 years old and will end a mandate marked by the defense of institutional stability. In seven years in Quirinale Palace, appointed four prime ministers to five different governments: Matteo Renzi, Paolo Gentiloni, Giuseppe Conte (twice) and Mario Draghi.
On at least three occasions, he was pressured to bring forward legislative elections, but he always refused to avoid what, in his end-of-year speech, he called “leaps in the dark”.
Several politicians have already expressed their desire to see the head of state re-elected, something that has only happened once in the history of the country. Italian Republic, however he indicated that he does not want a new term. Handle
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