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Just in time to celebrate his 86th birthday, former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi is making his return to Italy's parliament, winning a seat in the Senate nearly a decade after being banned from holding public office over a tax fraud conviction. Berlusconi, who has made personal comebacks a hallmark of Italian politics for three decades, was re-elected to Italy's upper house with more than 50% of the votes Sunday in the northern city of Monza, where he also owns a soccer team that was recently promoted to Italy's top division. While overall his party lost ground compared with the 2018 general elections, it fared better than expected and Berlusconi's victory was particularly heartfelt. Regaining a seat in the Senate was a sort of personal revenge for Berlusconi, after all the judicial problems he went through, said Massimiliano Panarari, political analyst at Rome's Mercatorum University. In 2013, the Senate expelled Berlusconi because of a tax fraud conviction stemming from his
Investor reaction was clear, with the yield on the Italy's 10-year note jumping as much as 21 basis points to 3.6%, its highest since June
PM Draghi resigns after key partners shun confidence vote; President asks him to stay on as caretaker; markets fall heavily over political crisis
The re-election of a head of state is rare in Italy
Italian media have been speculating for weeks about Draghi's possible presidential ambitions
Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese, and Health Ministers Roberto Speranza retained their mandates in the new government formed by Mario Draghi.
In an online ballot, 59.3% of 5-Star supporters heeded a call from party leaders to support the new administration
But Conte may not be ready to step aside just yet - he also savaged Matteo Salvini's demands for a snap election
Though unlike Greece, Italy is too big to fail and too big for a bail-out, but Italian government securities began to look a lot more like Greece's in just a few hectic hours
Prolonged political stalemate could make heavily indebted Italy the focus of market concern in Europe
The last opinion polls before the vote put Berlusconi's coalition in the lead with 37%, followed by the Five Star Movement with 28 percent and the centre-left with 27%
Italians are set to elect 630 members of the Chamber of Deputies and 315 members of the Senate under a new law
We ask the social networks, and especially Facebook, to help us have a clean electoral campaign, said Matteo Renzi, the leader of the Democratic Party