Italian lawmakers on Saturday elected Sergio Mattarella, a veteran
politician and constitutional court judge, as the country’s president, a
post that is expected to be redefined during his tenure.
Read more: Italy Elects President, While Mulling a Change in Role - NYTimes.com
Mr.
Mattarella was elected by lawmakers from both houses of Parliament and
regional delegates on the third day of voting, when only a simple
majority was needed, instead of the two-thirds required in the early
votes. He won 665 votes out of a possible 1,009, signaling wide
consensus across the political spectrum.
His
election is also a political victory for Prime Minister Matteo Renzi,
who had sponsored Mr. Mattarella’s candidacy and asked his cantankerous
party, and his broad coalition, to back his choice.
What
remains to be seen is whether Mr. Renzi has lost the support of former
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, whose party has been an ally of the
government as it has tried to push through institutional reforms. Mr.
Berlusconi had protested that Mr. Renzi was imposing his choice on his
allies, rather than reaching out to them to find a consensus candidate.
Although
Mr. Mattarella, 73, has been on the political stage for many years, he
has remained mostly out of the limelight, Italian media commentators
noted as they struggled to find television footage, even recent
photographs, of the reserved politician.
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