Italy's ruling parties asked Sergio Mattarella on Saturday to carry on as president for a second term after failing to find a compromise candidate in a week of often fraught voting in parliament.
Mattarella, 80, has always ruled out remaining in office and made no immediate comment, but with the country's political stability at risk, it looked highly unlikely he would be able to resist the pressure.
It is the second time in succession that a president has been asked to renew his seven-year mandate. In 2013, political leaders went cap in hand to the-then head of state, Giorgio Napolitano, after they too failed to find a consensus candidate. If, as expected, Mattarella accepts a second term, he too would almost certainly resign once the political situation allowed it, commentators have speculated.
While both Salvini's League and Forza Italia embraced the prospect of maintaining the status quo, their ally the Brothers of Italy, which has not joined them in the ruling coalition, denounced the behind-the-scenes manoeuvring.
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