Italy's President Sergio Mattarella re-elected, easing crisisItalian President Sergio Mattarella has served a tumultuous seven-year term but is a unifying figureROME - Italy's parties Saturday voted overwhelmingly for outgoing President Sergio Mattarella to remain for another term, averting the political chaos a failure to elect his successor could have sparked in the eurozone's third-largest economy. The former constitutional court judge had repeatedly ruled out serving for a second term, but gave in Saturday after Italy's bickering political parties failed to find another viable candidate. Constitutional expert Gaetano Azzariti earlier told AFP Mattarella's election would be for the full seven-year term, but he could resign earlier. Mattarella has already served a tumultuous seven-year term, during which he has sought to be a unifying figure through five different governments and the devastation of coronavirus. Draghi has also managed to keep squabbling between Italy's parties to a minimum.

Source: Bangkok Post January 29, 2022 23:47 UTC