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Sergio Mattarella sworn in as Italian President

Xinhua, February 3, 2015 Adjust font size:

Sergio Mattarella was sworn in Tuesday as Italian president to start his seven-year term of office.

The swearing-in ceremony took place in front of a joint-parliament assembly composed of the 1,009 lawmakers and regional representatives who elected the new president with 665 votes on Saturday.

Mattarella, a former professor of parliamentary law and lawyer with a reputation for integrity, resigned Monday as constitutional judge, a post he had held since 2011.

The 73-year-old new president replaced 89-year-old Giorgio Napolitano, who quit last month due to his old age, becoming Italy' s 12th head of state.

Born in island region Sicily into a Catholic family with political background, he entered politics in the 1980s after his brother was killed by the mafia. He had served as minister in various governments ever since.

Mattarella' s candidacy was promoted by Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, who said his election will give a "turbo" boost to his center-left government' s ambitious plan of structural reforms. Endi