The president of the Senate of the Republic () is the presiding officer of the

Italian Senate The Senate of the Republic (), or simply the Senate ( ), is the upper house of the bicameral Italian Parliament, the lower house being the Chamber of Deputies. The two houses together form a perfect bicameral system, meaning they perform iden ...

. The President of the Senate is the second highest-ranking office of the

Italian Republic Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

(after the president of the Republic). Since 13 October 2022, the role has been held by

Ignazio La Russa Ignazio Benito Maria La Russa (born 18 July 1947) is an Italian politician who is serving as President of the Senate of the Republic (Italy), president of the Senate of the Republic since 2022 President of the Italian Senate election, 13 Octob ...

Role

The President of the Senate represents the Senate to external bodies, regulates debates in the Senate chamber by applying its regulations and the rules of the

Italian Constitution The Constitution of the Italian Republic () was ratified on 22 December 1947 by the Constituent Assembly, with 453 votes in favour and 62 against, before coming into force on 1 January 1948, one century after the previous Constitution of the Ki ...

, and regulates all the activities of its components in order to ensure that it functions correctly. The President of the Senate, along with the President of the Chamber of Deputies, must be consulted by the President of the Republic before the latter can dissolve the Italian Parliament (Article 88).

Acting President of the Republic

If the President of the Republic is unable to perform their role as

head of state A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 "

he head of state He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...

being an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...

, then the President of the Senate takes on the role, under article 86 of the Italian Constitution. In this event, the

honor guard A guard of honour (Commonwealth English), honor guard (American English) or ceremonial guard, is a group of people, typically drawn from the military, appointed to perform ceremonial duties – for example, to receive or guard a head of state ...

of the President of the Republic, the

Corazzieri The Cuirassiers Regiment () is a Carabinieri cavalry regiment acting as guard of honour of the President of the Italian Republic. Their motto is ''Virtus in periculis firmior''. From 1948 to 1965, the regiment was officially called ''Squadron ...

, are transferred to the President of the Senate's residence, Palazzo Giustiniani, and a banner with the symbol of the Italian Republic is placed in the President's office. While the President of the Senate is acting President of the Republic, the presidency of the Senate is exercised by a Vice President.

Election

The President of the Senate is elected by the members of the Senate. This election is governed by the Senate's regulations, which require a simple majority of the votes of the members of the Senate. In case this does not result in election of a candidate after two rounds of voting, then the President can be elected by a simple majority of the voting members (i.e. excluding abstentions). If the Senate still fails to elect a President, then it holds a run-off vote between the two candidates who received the most votes in the preceding round of voting and award the presidency to whoever receives a plurality of the votes. If votes for the two candidates are tied, then the position is given to whichever candidate is older. The election of the President of the Senate takes place at the first sitting of the Senate after an election, which must occur within twenty days of said election. Until the election is complete, the presidency is held by the oldest Senator.

Living former presidents of the Senate of the Republic

As of , there are six living former presidents of the Senate of the Republic. File:Carlo_Scognamiglio.jpg,

Carlo Scognamiglio Carlo Scognamiglio Pasini (born 27 November 1944) is an Italian economist and politician. He is a university professor in applied economics, and was Chancellor of the LUISS University of Rome (1984–1992). He was President of the Italian Se ...

1994–1996
File:Nicola_Mancino_(1976).jpg,

Nicola Mancino Nicola Mancino (born 15 October 1931) is an Italian politician who served as president of the Senate of the Republic (Italy), Senate of the Republic from 1996 to 2001. He was also president of Campania's regional parliament from 1965 to 1971, g ...

1996–2001
File:Marcello_Pera_Senato.jpg,

Marcello Pera Marcello Pera (; born 28 January 1943) is an Italian philosopher and politician. He was the president of the Italian Senate from 2001 to 2006.

2001–2006
File:Renato_Schifani_in_Poland_2008_(cropped).jpg,

Renato Schifani Renato Maria Giuseppe Schifani (; born 11 May 1950) is an Italian politician who has served as the president of Sicily since 13 October 2022. Schifani was Silvio Berlusconi's chief whip and was a prominent member of the Senate of the Republic f ...

2008–2013
File:Pietro_Grasso_-_Festa_Unità_Roma_2012.JPG,

Pietro Grasso Pietro Grasso (; born 1 January 1945), also known as Piero Grasso, is an Italian anti-mafia magistrate and politician who served as President of the Senate from 2013 to 2018. Grasso became the Acting President of Italy on 14 January 2015, upon th ...

2013–2018
File:Elisabetta_Alberti_Casellati_cropped.jpg,

Elisabetta Casellati Maria Elisabetta Alberti (born 12 August 1946), known by her married name as Maria Elisabetta Alberti Casellati, is an Italian lawyer and politician, serving as Minister for Institutional Reforms since 2022. She was President of the Italian Sena ...

2018–2022

References

External links