DPA/Rome

Ten lawmakers defected from Italy’s biggest opposition party yesterday, dealing a blow to the 5-Star Movement’s (M5S) chances of influencing this week’s election of a new head of state.
The M5S is protest party led by a former comedian, Beppe Grillo, which surprised the pundits by winning around 25% of the votes in the 2013 general elections.
However, it has since struggled to make an impact on national politics, amid a background of internal revolts against Grillo’s autocratic style.
In a long statement, nine members of the lower house of parliament and one senator said that they were leaving the M5S because it had become “a sterile and purely destructive opposition force” led by “a narrow oligarchy which, besides, was never chosen nor voted by anybody”.
In February 2013, the M5S elected 109 lawmakers to the Chamber of Deputies and 54 to the upper house, the Senate.
With yesterday’s defections, its parliamentary representation has shrunk to 91 deputies and 36 senators.
The M5S leadership had refused to meet with the Democratic Party (PD) of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi to discuss candidates for Italy’s presidency.
Both houses of parliament will start voting to fill the position tomorrow.
PD deputy leader Lorenzo Guerini said his party would meet with the outgoing M5S lawmakers after holding talks with the conservative Forza Italia party of former premier Silvio Berlusconi.
As the largest group in parliament, the PD is leading efforts to find a consensual candidate for the presidency.
Analysts expect Renzi to strike a deal with Berlusconi.
However, being able to count on a handful of M5S dissenters would widen his options.
On Monday, Italian media quoted the prime minister as predicting in a closed-door party meeting that the new president would be elected in the fourth round of voting, expected to take place on Saturday morning.
In the first three rounds, the winning candidate has to clear a two-third majority, but the requirement falls to a simple majority of 50%-plus-one in subsequent rounds.
The presidential election follows the January 14 resignation of Giorgio Napolitano, an 89-year-old who said he was too tired to go on.
Former premier Giuliano Amato and Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan have been mentioned as possible successors, but experts say the race remains wide open.


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