Sergio Mattarella Elected President

Regina Juno

Regina Juno

Community Member
Dec 5, 2014
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Italian lawmakers elected Sergio Mattarella, a Constitutional Court justice widely considered to be above the political fray, as the nation's new president on the third day of voting. The 73-year-old former minister has center-left political roots. I was wondering how Italians feel about age when it comes to leaders. 73 is quite beyond retirement age.
 
Yup, it was about time they chose a new president :)
I don't really know anything about him, except for what I've read on Wikipedia :D
So, he is a judge and he's not a stranger to politics, "he was a member of Parliament from 1983 to 2008, serving as Minister of Education from 1989 to 1990 and as Minister of Defence from 1999 to 2001".

Regarding the age of many politicians.. I think the opinions differ, from person to person. I've heard people sharing your opinion, Regina, after a certain age people should seriously think bout retiring! And I've heard others having a different take on this, they don't seem to mind that the people ruling this country are close to 100 years old!
All in all, if you think about it, Italians are kinda used to having an elderly class of politicians :D Former president - 89 years old, Berlusconi - 78 years old, Mario Monti - 71 years old and so on.... Except for the current prime minister, Matteo Renzi, who is only 40 years old.
 
I had not thought of all the more recent former presidents and their age. You are right that they are all elderly. I suppose it is in Italian culture to see age as sign of maturity and wisdom rather than incapability. Age does bring experience.

With that said, my concern with age is that you may loose the president while in office. Also, one of America's oldest presidents, Ronald Reagan, did well in office, but later there has been talk about how he may have had alzheimers while in office. So, health effecting mental cognizance is the main concern.
 
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