Italy's divided parliament made a fifth attempt to elect a president yesterday after a split over candidates flung the main centre-left alliance into disarray and forced its leader to resign.
Pier Luigi Bersani said late on Friday he would quit as Democratic Party leader as soon as a new head of state was elected, after party rebels sabotaged two candidates he had proposed. The party's president, Rosy Bindi, also resigned. A new president to succeed President Giorgio Napolitano, whose term ends on May 15, is needed to break a deadlock that has dragged on since an inconclusive February election.
■ITALY
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