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Sicilian judge sworn in as Italy’s new president

Mattarella, 73, was elected by lawmakers on Saturday to succeed Giorgio Napolitano, who stood down two years into his second term citing fatigue at the age of 89.

Mattarella becomes Italy’s 12th president since the country became a Republic after World War II.
His election has been seen as a political coup for Italy’s Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. The youthful, centre-left prime minister had backed Mattarella despite opposition from opposition leader and former premier Silvio Berlusconi.

Renzi’s candidate comfortably carried the vote with 665 of the votes cast in a 1,009-member electoral college.

The new president was until now little known to ordinary Italians. But the white-haired former academic has long been a respected figure in political circles after a 25-year parliamentary career and several stints as minister in governments of the left and right.
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