Iran Press/ Europe: 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, as Italian media reported.
Electing the 80-year-old ended weeks of speculation on whether the Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi should be elevated, with many fearing such a move would have left the government rudderless at a highly sensitive time.
Relieved party chiefs thanked 80-year-old Mattarella for agreeing to remain, but the failed attempts to replace him during seven rounds of balloting have left deep scars, with potentially dangerous repercussions for political stability.
In Italy’s political system, the president is a powerful figure who gets to appoint prime ministers and is often called on to resolve political crises. 219
