Milan Prefect Francesco Paolo Tronca, center, arrives at Expo 2015 world's fair, in Rho, near Milan, Italy, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2015. The Italian government has chosen Milan's top security official Tronca to run corruption-plagued Rome after its mayor Ignazio Marino reluctantly stepped down after Premier Matteo Renzi's Democratic Party yanked its support for him. (Mourad Balti Touati/ANSA via AP) (The Associated Press)
ROME – The Italian government has chosen Milan's top security official to run corruption-plagued Rome after its mayor reluctantly stepped down.
The interior ministry said Saturday Milan Prefect Francesco Paolo Tronca will run Rome until elections, expected in the spring.
Ignazio Marino, who had been mayor since 2013, stepped down after Premier Matteo Renzi's Democratic Party yanked its support for him.
Democratic leaders had lost confidence that Marino could turn around Rome, which has been plundered by decades of cronyism and corruption in transport, sanitation and other public services.
Prosecutors have accused Democrats and center-right opposition politicians of corruption in city contracts.
Tronca, a native Sicilian, helped ensure security during Milan's Expo world's fair, which ended Saturday.
The Vatican's Holy Year, starting in December, could draw millions of pilgrims to Rome.
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