Napolitano escapes presidential 'prison'

(ANSA) - Rome, January 13 - 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.