Bonino: I want to be Italy's president

FOR MANY Italians, the process of choosing a president, which begins on Thursday, has a sense of deja vu. Since Oscar Luigi Scalfaro was elected in 1992, there have been immense political upheavals, corruption scandals, a new electoral system and Italy's entry into the European Monetary Union.

But somehow the prelude to the election has remained immutable. A Communist- led government is in power but, while faces have changed, the method - horse-trading raised to high art - remains the same.

As guarantor of the constitution the president is supposed to be above political in-fighting. His powers include dissolving parliament and consultation in foreign and defence policy. Polls show Emma Bonino, EU commissioner for humanitarian aid, is the favourite among ordinary Italians to succeed Mr Scalfaro.

But the president is elected by 1,013 grandi elettori: MPs, senators and representatives of the regions. Direct election was to have been considered by a joint-house commission that was charged with rewriting the constitutional framework. But it foundered after two years when the opposition leader, Silvio Berlusconi, pulled out .

The presidential ballot is secret. Newspapers have been full of speculation, denials, and no-comments but neither the government nor the opposition has named a candidate. Ms Bonino is the only person who has said she wants the job.

"There's something surreal about the fact that I have such support among the people but am completely ignored by the palazzo, the centre of political power" she said. "None of the leaders has called me ... it's clear decisions are being made behind closed doors, as they always were." The "Emma for president" campaign began with an off-the-cuff remark by the former prime minister Giuliano Amato in September. Critics suggest her candidacy is a gimmick to boost her party in the European elections.

The Treasury Minister, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, runs second to Ms Bonino. A former central- bank director, he is respected by Italians for getting them into the first round of European Monetary Union.

Every Italian president since 1948 has been a Christian Democrat. Though the Catholic vote is much diminished and dispersed, the assumption that the head of state must be an active Catholic remains. Other possibles are the Interior Minister, Rosa Russo Jervolino, who would break ground by being the first female president, yet continue the Catholic stranglehold; Mr Amato; Franco Marini, head of the centrist Popular Part; and the Senate president, Nicola Mancino.