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CONSTITUTIONAL Court Justice Sergio Mattarella was elected as Italy’s president in the third day of balloting on Saturday.
He said his priorities were the country’s economy and the need for unity in the fight against a “new season of terror.”
Mr Mattarella’s election was clinched when he amassed 505 votes — a simple majority.
Former Premier Silvio Berlusconi’s right-wing opposition had vowed to cast blank ballots, insisting that the government should have reached agreement with Mr Berlusconi first.
But the 73-year-old former minister with centre-left political roots went on to amass a total of 665 votes from the 1,009 eligible electors.
His first act was to visit the Ardeatine Caves, a monument to victims of the World War II nazi occupiers.
Mr Mattarella hailed the wartime alliance “between nations and peoples that knew how to defeat nazi, racial, anti-semitic and totalitarian hate” and called for the same solidarity.
