Italians were greeted by a familiar sight this week many thought they'd never see again: Silvio Berlusconi beaming triumphantly from the front pages of the country's newspapers.
Two years after being forced from office by economic crisis and sex scandals, the former prime minister has returned to reap the spoils of the parliament's traumatic and ultimately failed attempt to elect a new president last weekend.
In normal times, the head of state is a largely symbolic figure. But the political crisis that began when Berlusconi was ousted from government in 2011 and deepened after inconclusive elections in February has forced the president to take charge.
At the age of 87 after a single seven-year term, Giorgio Napolitano was ready to pass the job to someone else, as every past president has done.
But the country's legislators were unable to oblige him. After four votes in three days failed to yield a successor, the bosses of the country's main parties begged the reluctant former communist to stay on.
After excoriating Italy's political parties in an impassioned inauguration address, Napolitano took a first step toward ending two months of political deadlock on Wednesday by appointing Enrico Letta, the 46-year-old deputy of Italy's center-left Democratic Party (PD) to be the country's new prime minister.
A moderate with strong ties to the Catholic Church, Letta has long served as his party's envoy across the isle. It's a role he practically inherited as the nephew of Gianni Letta, Berlusconi's right-hand man. His appointment underscores Napolitano's insistence on a government built on bipartisan support.
Forming a government that can withstand the centrifugal forces which threaten to tear the PD apart, however, will be easier said than done - to Berlusconi's great advantage.
The PD is still reeling from the humiliating defeat it suffered in failing to elect a successor for the elderly Italian president. It had the numbers to elects its own candidate, but it lacked the political will. Riven by infighting before the vote, it descended into chaos after its leadership resigned en masse.
James Walston of the American University in Rome explains that as Berlusconi's historic enemies, the PD's loss is the former prime minister's gain. "There's absolutely no doubt that he's come out on top," he explains.
While the PD now risks completely breaking up, Berlusconi and his allies look calm, collected and cohesive - a rare quality in Italian politics that frazzled voters admire.
A poll released by the EMG agency shortly before the election showed Berlusconi's center-right coalition pulling ahead of the Democrats, who won more votes in the last election than any other party, although not enough to secure a governing majority in parliament.
Berlusconi's popularity can only have increased following the PD's meltdown this week. It's no stretch to imagine that he would win if elections were held today.
That's a remarkable reversal of fortunes for the 76-year-old politician whom most had given up for dead a year ago. If few predicted his comeback, however, fewer still imagined he'd outlast his archrival Pier Luigi Bersani, the PD leader.
Three months ago, he looked like the best bet to become Italy's prime minister. But Bersani resigned on Saturday night after rebels within his own party sabotaged the presidential vote under the cover of secret balloting.
