"Grace", "kindness", "humanity" and above all "authoritativeness". Sergio Mattarella is confirmed as the most loved politician and the Italians give him credit - through social media - on his birthday. 79 years for the President of the Republic, who is approaching the final phase of a seven-year period chosen to live in harmony with his character: never a word out of place, prudence in relations with the parties and a meticulous attention not to invade the spaces of the other constitutional powers, starting from the sacred respect for the autonomy of Parliament. Rather, Mattarella has tried to bring people closer to institutions, even with strongly symbolic choices such as the opening to the public of the Quirinale and the Castelporziano estate for social activities. All with an incessant but discreet activity of moral suasion, advice and direction which together with a network of personal relationships have made him perceive abroad as the reliable helmsman of an Italy in storm. A president who in fact governed a complex political phase managing to form two diametrically opposed governments with the parliamentary numbers that emerged from the March 2018 elections.
The President #Mattarella: "Thanks to the towns and citizens who wanted to express me, through social media, best wishes for the birthday"
- Quirinale (@Quirinale) July 23, 2020
Rarely in the past had there been such a high and lasting "keeping" of personal satisfaction. And perhaps never a head of state, after more than five years at the Quirinale, had been able to win the unanimous applause of political forces. An avalanche of good wishes from all the parties that have recognized the leading role of this "president-jurist" underlining, as Giorgia Meloni also did, her unifying action of the country: "never as in this moment the Italians need to feel part of a national community and to have the institutions at your side. To the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, who is its highest representative, best wishes for a happy birthday from me and from the Brothers of Italy, "wrote the leader of FdI. Or thank him, as Mara Carfagna underlined, for "his constant work to protect national unity and the principles contained in our Constitution".
So far politics. Instead, the closeness of citizens - in reality unusual for an institution such as that of the Quirinale in the past experienced as too high from the belly of the country - develops on social media, from twitter to facebook. Happy birthday. Lots of posts with videos that reproduce the famous presidential "off the air" with a disheveled Mattarella who, in full lock down, talks with his spokesman reminding him that he too could not go to the barber. That "Eh Giovanni" who has become a catchphrase on social media and has brought the presidency of the Republic closer to the country. And that today is re-proposed with infinite "memes" all to taste. And Mattarella always thanks via-social: "thanks to the towns and citizens who wanted to express my wishes for the birthday through social networks," he wrote in the evening on the Quirinale's twitter account.
