Sunday, February 01, 2015

Meet The New President Of The Republic Of Italy; Dr Mignini Was Also One Candidate Named

Posted by Peter Quennell





Constitutional court judge Sergio Mattarella (image above) has been elected the new President of the Republic of Italy.

He follows President Giorgio Napolitano (shown below voting) who recently decided to step down. He becomes the ultimate head of the Italian justice system in addition to other functions.

He was the firm favorite of the party of Prime Minister Renzi so his winning the final vote by more than 2/3 of the 1,009 parliamentarians and regional officials eligible to vote (see images of voting below) was not surprising.

Dr Mignini’s name was also placed in the first round of the balloting, seen as a form of honor for him for his fine career work and especially his admired success in bringing the Monster Of Florence case to a conclusion with strong evidence pointing to Narducci as the killer - and strong evidence pointing to Spezi and Preston as having tried to pull off a despicable self-serving hoax.

The AFP reports this about the career of President Mattarella.

The president-elect is little known among the general public but is a respected figure in political circles after a 25-year parliamentary career and several stints as minister in governments of the left and right.

He entered politics after his elder brother, who was president of the region of Sicily, was murdered by the Mafia in 1980.

Renzi’s backing for Mattarella was interpreted as the end of the temporary alliance the premier had forged with his disgraced forerunner [Berlusconi] in order to drive labour market and electoral reforms through parliament.

Mattarella is seen as an “anti-Berlusconi” figure, having switched sides from the political right to the left in the 1990s, partly because of his distaste for the media tycoon, who still heads the opposition Forza Italia party despite a tax fraud conviction.

Berlusconi was reported to be feeling “betrayed” by Renzi.

He had ordered his party to cast blank ballots in the vote, but 35 members out of 142 present for voting ignored his orders, signalling a rift within Forza Italia.

“The PD had to show it was the backbone of the system and it did,” Ezio Mauro, editor-in-chief of Italian paper La Repubblica. “For Berlusconi it is certainly a major blow.”

The Forza Italia leader was believed to be hoping for a sympathetic figure to be installed as president to increase his chances of winning a pardon over his criminal conviction which would allow him to return to parliament.

With regard to Dr Mignini, the Italian Constitution says that any citizen above the age of 50 may be elected President of the Republic no matter if he is a candidate or not: there are no official candidates under the Constitution, and he/she may accept or refuse if elected.

Reportedly the vote for Dr Mignini was cast by Elector Andrea Lignani Marchesani the influential political leader of Umbria. He had declared that he wanted to devote an inscription vote to Prosecutor General Mignini to honor “his honesty, his independence and his standing up to intimidation from meddlesome forces”.

This mainly refers to Dr Mignini’s unyielding pushing ahead on the Narducci case, but he is also widely admired for refusing to be intimidated by the pro-Knox and pro-Sollecity forces. He is not active in politics.

Former President Napolitano actually had a role in Meredith’s case, in that he chose to ignore a petition by some pro-Berlusconi parliamentarians to investigate the Perugia prosecutors for their roles.

If the case crosses his desk President Mattarella can be expected to take the same pro-justice line.











Posted by Peter Quennell on 02/01/15 at 05:12 PM in The wider contexts,  Italian context,  Hoaxes against Italy,  9 Mignini v Knox hoax

Comments

Very interesting Pete, and very nice to see the good photo of him too - especially as this is something we have not seen a whisper of in the English press.

Posted by SeekingUnderstanding on 02/02/15 at 10:49 AM | #

Congrads.

Oh Peter, any word on those folks sliming Mignini, Knife-Boy and his coauthor/ghostwriter/typist?

Posted by Chimera on 02/03/15 at 09:37 AM | #

Hi Chimera

Sure. Posts coming up. On 5 March a full trial will be ordered. Put-up or shut-up time for the two is past. RS and Gumbel are trying to point the finger at each other, RS may “win” for what its worth as widely believed Gumbel did hijack the book.

Posted by Peter Quennell on 02/03/15 at 03:25 PM | #

Hi SeekingUnderstanding

We did have some coverage in the US as a lot of people are of Italian descent.

From his confirmation speech it sounds like Pres Mattarella will be firm on the law and the fight against the mafias and their fellow travelers.

He may be the one to explain to Obama directly the strength of the case. Neither side will want the status of Knox to fester; much more important fish to fry. Pres Napolitano was well known internationally and had met with Obama at various times.

The only US politicians ever to speak up for Knox were Democrats (Cantwell and Wu) and Wu is gone and Cantwell a lot quieter than she was. But this doesnt break on party lines: Ann Coulter and Wendy Murphy are at opposite extremes but they both see guilt.

Posted by Peter Quennell on 02/03/15 at 03:41 PM | #

Well Pete, if the book was hijacked, Sollecito (and possibly Knox for hers), have a few options:

1. They can team up and frame Gumbel and Kuhlman as the ‘‘lone-wolf’’ authors.

2. They can hire some guy PR guys to publicly profess their innocence.

3. They can complain to Cassation, as the ISC seems pretty good at setting ‘‘corrupted’’ things back on track.  Nencini too.  Besides, AK and RS will be there soon enough anyway ...

Sad really, all these ‘‘authors’’ disavowing their work.

Looking forward to your next posts.

Posted by Chimera on 02/04/15 at 03:23 AM | #

I can see it now, Knox going on television.

‘’ .... There is no proof of me in that book about my friend being murdered.’‘

‘‘But your name is on the book ... ‘’

‘‘Look, if Linda Kuhlman wrote the book alone, which we know she did, as her verbs and advectives are all over it.  None of that exists for me.’‘

‘‘But you went on a speaking tour ... ‘’

‘‘Look, everyone reacts differently to a multi-million dollar book deal.  And it is all this speculation that is causing this trouble.’‘

‘‘Did you contribute to it?’‘

‘‘I had no contact with Linda Kuhlman.  Like many Americans I met Linda Kuhlman once.  Her language, her choice of wordings, are all over that book, and that proves my innocence.’‘

‘‘But your book contains many personal stories the public was not privy to.’‘

(angry scowl) ‘‘Look, the press is trying to put me on trial for my lifestyle.  My friend was murdered, and now people are accusing me of writing a book to cash in on it.’‘

‘‘Again, you did a speaking tour. And you did get 4 million to write it.’‘

(indignant sigh) ‘‘I did not publish the book, I did not edit it. I had no reason to.  There is proof of my innocence in that book.’‘

‘‘Wait! Proof of your innocence of not writing the book? Or proof of you not murdering Meredith?’‘

(Anger flaring) ‘‘I have suffered enough.  First my friend was murdered.  Then I had to answer all these questions:

(a) What was I doing when my friend was murdered?
(b) What clothes was I wearing?
(c) Who is this Patrik?  Why do you think he did it?
(d) Why did you shower in a bloody bathroom?

Meredith had it easy.  Her death was over in an hour or so.  I have been put on trial again and again, and now accused of writing a book.’‘

‘‘Those were your appeals, and you chose to write a book.’‘

‘‘At this point, I’d like to invoke my right to counsel.’‘

Posted by Chimera on 02/04/15 at 03:55 AM | #
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Or to previous entry Summaries Of The Nencini Report #1: The Attention Directed To Various Crucial Timings