chairman and the Institut de Prospective Economique du Monde Méditerranéen (IPEMED). Secretary of the Democratic Party In January 2021, after the government crisis which forced Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte to resign, a national unity government led by Mario Draghi was formed. In the midst of the formation of Draghi's government, Zingaretti was heavily criticized by the party's minority for his management of the crisis and strenuous support to Conte. On 4 March, after weeks of internal turmoil, Zingaretti announced his resignation as secretary, stating that he was "ashamed of the power struggles" within the party. In the next days, many prominent members of the PD, including Zingaretti himself, but also former Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, former party secretary Dario Franceschini and President of Emilia-Romagna Stefano Bonaccini, publicly asked former Letta to become the new leader of the party. Following an initial reluctancy, Letta stated that he needed a few days to evaluate the option. On 12 March, he officially accepted his candidacy as new party's leader. On 14 March, the national assembly of the PD elected Letta secretary with 860 votes in favour, 2 against and 4 abstentions. On 17 March, Letta appointed Peppe Provenzano and Irene Tinagli as his deputy secretaries. On the following day, he appointed the party's new executive, composed of eight men and eight women. Later that month, Letta forced the two Democratic leaders in Parliament, Graziano Delrio and Andrea Marcucci, to resign and proposed the election of two female leaders. On 25 and 30 March, senators and deputies elected Simona Malpezzi and Debora Serracchiani as their leaders in the Senate and in the Chamber. In July 2021, Letta announced his intention to run for the Chamber of Deputies in the Siena district, which remained vacant after the resignation of Pier Carlo Padoan. On 4 October, Letta won the by-election with 49.9% of votes, returning to the Parliament after six years. In the concurrent local elections, the PD and its allies won municipal elections in Milan, Bologna, Naples, Rome, Turin and many other major cities across the country. As leader of the third political forces in the parliament, Letta played an important role in the re-election of incumbent president Sergio Mattarella. On 23 January 2022, during Fabio Fazio's talk show Che tempo che fa, Letta stated that his favorable candidates to the presidency were Mario Draghi and Sergio Mattarella.<ref>Quirinale, la proposta di Letta: "Draghi o Mattarella,