Italy’s Minister of Regional Affairs Mariastella Gelmini said on Saturday that President Sergio Mattarella has agreed to serve a second term after parties failed to find a mutually acceptable alternative candidate, thus asking him to retain his position.

Italy's Mattarella has agreed to serve second term, minister says https://t.co/6Il9omU743

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“President Sergio Mattarella’s willingness to serve a second term, requested by the overwhelming majority of political parties, shows his sense of responsibility and his attachment to the country and its institutions,” Mariastella Gelmini said on Saturday.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte had resigned last Tuesday, in an effort to form a new government that would bring the country out of its economic and health crisis, after the withdrawal of an Italian party from the government coalition.

Following the resignation, Italy plunged into a new political crisis, as senators were expected to vote on reforms proposed by Minister of Justice Alfonso Bonafede, including endorsing new laws in the field of civil and criminal trials, or even the abolition of the statute of limitations after a first conviction. This vote would have been considered a referendum on the government.