On the eve of his widely
anticipated resignation, President Giorgio Napolitano said on
Tuesday that he was happy to be escaping his presidential
"prison" for home.
"Of course I'm happy to go back home," Napolitano, 89, said
in answer to a child's question during an event at the
president's palace on Rome's historic Quirinal Hill.
"I'm fine here, everything is beautiful, but it's a bit of
a prison," added Napolitano, who reluctantly accepted a second
presidential term in April 2013 amid a political crisis.
"I'll feel good at home and I'll walk around".
The Naples native has said he was feeling too tired to
continue the job, adding recently that it was time to return the
country to "Constitutional normalcy" by ending his unusual,
extended term.
Napolitano became the first former Communist to be
elected head of State in 2006 and was widely credited with
helping to guide Italy through the European debt crisis in 2011.
He made history again in 2013, when he reluctantly agreed
to become the first Italian president to be re-elected to
avert a political crisis after parliament failed to agree on a
successor.
But Napolitano always said that he would not serve all of
his second seven-year term, although he promised to remain on
the job to ensure stability in the country's top institutional
position until the end of Italy's duty presidency of the
European Union.
That came on Tuesday and in his closing speech to the
European Parliament, Premier Matteo Renzi paid tribute to
Napolitano as a "convinced Europeanist," prompting warm applause
from the MEPs in Strasbourg.
It may again be difficult for warring politicians to agree
on a new president.
The vicious tone of political debate has been a frequent
topic for Napolitano, who has emphasized the critical need for
greater political cooperation during Italy's continued economic
and social struggles.
He used his year-end address to urge Italians - from
politicians to ordinary citizens - to recover the country's
moral compass and fight against corruption.
But that first requires "political stability and
institutional continuity" if organized crime is to be truly
fought, said Napolitano.
Accolades began pouring in last week for Napolitano's work,
including a telephone call last week from United States
President Barack Obama who wished the Italian a happy new year
and congratulated him on his achievements in office.
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