Italian president wants new prime minister appointed quickly

President Sergio Mattarella has indicated he would like to have Italy's next prime minister appointed by next Thursday, before the two-day EU summit in Brussels.

Mr Mattarella was engaged yesterday in the first full day of party consultations following prime minister Matteo Renzi’s resignation on Wednesday.

While the identity of the new prime minister remains a matter of intense speculation, the probability of a snap election is unlikely. Mr Mattarella is likely to resist calls for an early election from the Five Star Movement and the Northern League.

Italy currently finds itself in a situation where different electoral laws apply to both parliamentary chambers. So Mr Mattarella wants a new electoral law for both houses to be enacted before he will dissolve parliament.

This could take from four to six months, meaning no general election will be called before next summer.

Constitutional court

Mr Mattarella also says that he must wait for a January 24th ruling of the constitutional court on Mr Renzi’s lower house electoral law, the Italicum.

Many observers believe this law will be judged unconstitutional.   Were that to happen, it would leave Italy having two different electoral laws for both houses of parliament, with both ruled unconstitutional.

Mr Mattarella is himself a constitutional “authority” since, before being elected in January of last year, he served on the constitutional court.

Meanwhile, Mr Renzi, has gone unusually silent. Commentators believe Mr Mattarella might ask him to remain in office as he is still the leader of the party with the most votes.

Mr Renzi, however, may be wary of accepting the offer due to the changed circumstances. Given that Mr Renzi’s entire political profile is based on innovation and change, he might feel it impossible to act out a distinctly pre-1992, first republic ritual such as succeeding himself in the prime minister’s office.

For the time being, finance minister Piercarlo Padoan and foreign minister Paolo Gentiloni are the leading candidates to replace him.