To analyse. The San Remo festival is one of the most unfathomable mysteries for anyone trying to delve into Italian culture. Few moments (apart from a European championship or football World Cup final) have this power to unite a people around the same spectacle, and the closing evening, Saturday February 5, was no exception to the rule, bringing together more than 13 million viewers.
Two days earlier, the broadcast had started in an unusual way when the irremovable presenter, Amadeus, wanted to greet President Sergio Mattarella, re-elected on January 29, for a second seven-year term, before launching the show. “I would like to wish you good work, and express the affection and gratitude that we all feel towards you”, he launched, before dedicating a song to him, to the cheers of the public.
After ten days of behind-the-scenes struggles, punctuated by betrayals and low blows, this applause marked the return to current affairs; even more so than the swearing-in, which had taken place a few hours earlier. From the huge Quirinal Palace, which overlooks the city center of Rome, this hieratic and solitary octogenarian, more popular than ever, will continue his silent magisterium, while, below, the political contests will be able to continue their course.
Not a passive character
If one thinks of the violence of the exchanges which led to this conclusion, the scene has something unreal. A thousand electors tearing themselves apart under the television cameras during eight rounds of voting, permanent negotiations punctuated by slamming doors, ambitions of a life burned in a few hours, the dramaturgy will not have missed much. of this presidential week.
In the end, the decision was made by a handful of men behind the scenes and it became obvious to the whole nation in a few minutes. By a kind of miracle repeating the conclaves of the Rome of the popes, the most opaque electoral system there is gave birth to a decision that no one, or almost, wished to contest. Having been chosen by no one – or almost – Sergio Mattarella was invested, in no time, as the president of all.
Of course, the person of Sergio Mattarella is not for nothing in this strange operation. A lifelong Christian Democrat, who entered politics on the death of his brother, Piersanti, killed in 1980 in the streets of Palermo by the Mafia, he has exercised his office, since 2015, with the necessary phlegm and seriousness. Better still, he seems to accept honors reluctantly, which seems to everyone to be the best proof that he is worthy of it – there too, the parallel with the popes is obvious.
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