Ex-premier Giuseppe Conte said Monday that his 5-Star Movement (M5S) would not back Silvio Berlusconi to become Italy's next president.
Lawmakers from both houses of parliament and representatives of Italy's regions are set to elect a new head of State next month with President Sergio Mattarerlla's seven-year term ending in February.
"It may not be made official that he (Berlusconi) is bidding to become president but, if he stands, he won't have the votes of the Movement," Conte told La7 television.
The centre-left Democratic Party (PD) has also said it would not back former centre-right premier and media billionaire Berlusconi to become president.
Giorgia Meloni, the leader of the right-wing Brothers of Italy (FdI) party, recently said she was in favour of Forza Italia leader Silvio Berlusconi becoming president, adding that, above all, the next head of State must be a "patriot".
FdI is part of the centre-right alliance along with the League and Forza Italia but, unlike them, it is not supporting Premier Mario Draghi's broad government of unity.
Under the Constitution, the head of State acts as a sort of referee of Italian politics and the role is especially important at times of political crisis.
This was seen, for example, in how Mattarella paved the way for Draghi's government of national unity early in 2021 after Conte's executive lost its majority in parliament.
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