Rome

Please don’t go: President Sergio Mattarella, 80, has been persuaded to stay on for a second seven-year term after eight rounds of voting failed to yield a replacement. Mattarella was eager to retire and had packed his boxes at the official residence and rented an apartment in Rome. But Italy’s parliament couldn’t settle on anyone else, and Prime Minister Mario Draghi told Mattarella that Italy needed him. Mattarella’s presence in the largely symbolic role likely ensures that Draghi’s national unity coalition, which led the country through a difficult period of post-Covid economic recovery, will survive until the 2023 elections. Former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who heads the center-right Forza Italia party and briefly flirted with a presidential run himself, said he appreciated Mattarella’s “great sacrifice.”

Mattarella: Stuck