Rome: President Giorgio Napolitano begins his unprecedented second term with the daunting task of trying to find a candidate who can form a government two months after national elections left Italy with no clear winner and an increasingly discredited political class.
The 87-year-old Napolitano takes his oath of office later today and is expected to address the nation about plans to bring recession-mired Italy out of its political paralysis and the euro-zone`s third-largest economy back on the path of financial reforms and growth.
He was re-elected on Saturday after politicians failed to find a new candidate who could carry a majority of Parliament and regional voters.
The divisive process resulted in the implosion of the center-left Democratic Party and the galvanising of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement.
PTI