Italy's Mattarella stays on for 2nd term

Sergio Mattarella was reelected as Italy's president on Saturday despite his earlier resolution of not seeking another term in a race that no other candidate had a chance of winning after days of voting.

Mattarella won 759 of the 1,009 possible votes on Saturday in the eighth round of voting since Jan 24. His first seven-year term will expire on Thursday.

The 80-year-old changed his mind after days of stalemate, which saw bitter fighting among candidates that could endanger the country's political stability at a critical time. Leaders of most parties had asked him to reconsider after seven rounds of voting produced no successor.

Mattarella agreed on Saturday afternoon, saying he is at the country's disposal.

After previously announcing that he would not seek another term, Mattarella rented an apartment in Rome to prepare for his move from the presidential palace atop Quirinal Hill.

In brief comments from the palace after the vote, Mattarella said the ongoing coronavirus crisis and Italy's difficult economic and social conditions meant he was duty bound to accept the decision of parliament.

Even though he had other personal plans, he said he is "committed to matching the expectations and hopes of the people".

Powerful figure

In Italy's political system, the president is a powerful figure who gets to appoint prime minister and is often called on to resolve political crises.

Round after round of fruitless voting since Monday showed deep rivalries among parties of the wide-ranging coalition government headed by Prime Minister Mario Draghi, an economist and former banker.

During the vote on Friday evening, Mattarella still garnered the most votes despite his insistence of not running for another term.

Draghi, who had hoped to take the top job himself, thanked Mattarella for "his decision to go along with the extremely strong will of parliament", calling the reelection "splendid news for Italians".

Draghi, who was appointed by Mattarella last February to lead a national unity government following the resignation of Giuseppe Conte, will now stay on prime minister.

"After a chaotic week, #Mattarella and #Draghi are confirmed in their roles. Very good message of stability and responsibility," wrote Paolo Gentiloni, former Italian prime minister who is now the European Commissioner for Economy, in a tweet after the vote on Saturday.

European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen both congratulated Mattarella on Twitter.

"Congratulations to Sergio Mattarella for his reelection as president of Italy," Michel said.

Agencies contributed to the story.