Foreign bookies are busy taking
bets on who is to be the next president of Italy after Giorgio
Napolitano stepped down Wednesday, sources said Thursday.
The top candidates are all from the center-left Democratic
Party (PD) of Premier Matteo Renzi, with former premier Romano
Prodi favored to win at 3.5-1, followed by former Rome mayor and
PD leader Walter Veltroni at 5-1 and Massimo D'Alema, another
ex-premier and PD heavyweight, at 8-1.
Senate Speaker Pietro Grasso, who is currently also serving
as interim president, has longer odds at 10-1, as do Turin PD
Mayor and former centre-left leader Piero Fassino, PD Senate
whip Anna Finocchiaro, and jurist Stefano Rodotà, an independent
and former member of the Radical Party and the PD.
Defense Minister Roberta Pinotti is a long shot at 13-1,
followed by former premier and one-time Socialist Party No.2
Giuliano Amato at 15-1.
Pier Ferdinando Casini, who leads the small centrist UDC
party, and current PD Culture Minister Dario Franceschini are
both at 25-1.
Those deemed least likely to fill the post are former
foreign minister Emma Bonino, a historic member of the Radical
Party who recently bowed out of the race with the announcement
she is fighting breast cancer (50-1) and former center-right
premier and Forza Italia (FI) chief Silvio Berlusconi (60-1).
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