European Commissioner Emma Bonino may soon become Italy’s first woman president. Bonino is the only potential candidate who has already started an active campaign for the presidency. Her opponents are likely to include Treasury Minister Carlo Azeglio Ciampi and Senate President Nicola Mancino.
Italy’s current president, Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, announced this past weekend that he is willing to cut his current term short in order to prevent two large elections — the presidential election and the European elections — from overlapping. He was originally to remain in office through May 28, and is now expected to resign on April 20.
If Scalfaro does resign several weeks early, a presidential election could happen in early May.
