From the BBC:

  • Italy’s parliament has elected constitutional court judge Sergio Mattarella as the country’s president
  • He will succeed Giorgio Napolitano, 89
  • The result, confirmed on a third day of voting, will be seen as a boost for Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, who nominated Mr Mattarella
  • Italy’s president is largely a ceremonial role, but includes the power to appoint a prime minister
  • That power is one quite frequently invoked in Italy, where politics is famously volatile
  • Mr Napolitano named five prime ministers during his eight-and-a-half-years in office

More from the BBC report here

Silvio Berlusconi was heared to mutter that Italian politics “feels so empty without me” …