Italian President Giorgio Napolitano steps down

Italian President Giorgio Napolitano resigned on Wednesday, two weeks after indicating that his advanced age, 89 years, had made it difficult for him to perform the duties of his office.

Napolitano had to write three letters to make his resignation official: one for Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, another for President of the Senate Piero Grasso, and last one to President of the Chamber of Deputies Laura Boldrini.

His resignation was confirmed Wednesday morning by to local media, and was made public by Renzi during a speech in the European Parliament.

After dedicating his life to politics, Napolitano stepped down to spend time with his family, after recently explaining that he wanted to “go home”.

Grasso will act as a temporary president until the election of a successor, whose name will be submitted to a vote within 15 days, according to the Italian constitution.

Deborah Serrachiani, Deputy Secretary of the Democratic Party led by Renzi, confirmed that there were no obvious candidates and said the government’s objective is to reach an agreement on the fourth or fifth ballot.

Napolitano will be remembered for being the first Italian president to be reelected, as he replaced Carlo Azeglio Ciampi in May 2006 and was again elected in April 2013.