Islam Times - Italians reject reelection of Napolitano as president

Islam Times - Thousands of Italians have protested in the capital, Rome, against the re-election of President Giorgio Napolitano, saying he does not represent the people of Italy.

The Sunday march went through central Rome and ended by the Colosseum.

Gianluca Bisogno, one of the protesters, said Napolitano was not elected by the people. “We are fed up with presidents coming from the old political clans. We want a president who really represents the Italian people. We do not want a president from the political clubs or one that will only defend them and that is why we are all here.”

Another protester said the demonstrators were “indignant and disgusted because what happened is intolerable.”

“The constitution has been ripped apart. Napolitano until a few days ago kept saying he would not be available for a second term, that he was against back-room deal-making but then, to save the centre-right and the centre-left who are clearly on the same boat, he was very quick to change his mind,” the protester stated.

Beppe Grillo, the leader of Italy’s 5-Star Movement (M5S) who stayed briefly at the demonstration, has called the presidential election of April 19 a “cunning little institutional coup.”

After accepting an appeal by Italy’s major political parties to stand for a second term, Napolitano was reelected president on Friday.

Napolitano, the first president in Italy’s history to be asked to serve a second term, is to address parliament later on Monday. He is expected to put together a broad coalition government to tackle the financial crisis in Italy.