Italy’s departing Prime Minister Matteo Renzi handpicked his successor at the Palazzo Chigi with his own future top of mind.

A reputation for loyalty and competence makes Paolo Gentiloni seemingly the ideal man to hold down the fort before the next elections, and a possible Renzi comeback, are due no later than and odds are will come before February 2018.

Nicknamed “Paolo the cold” for his aristocratic mien, the 62-year-old Gentiloni appears to understand his political attributes as well as limitations. He’s respected for his professionalism, which he’ll need in spades to steer Italy past difficult political and economics shoals in the weeks ahead.

But Gentiloni is seen as too reserved, even boring, to lead the ruling Democratic Party to electoral triumph. When he ran to be Rome’s mayor three years ago, he lost badly. Renzi remains the party leader and its charismatic face, even as he retreats back to his home base in Florence. In a Facebook post Sunday, Renzi made clear that he will not leave the political arena: “We are learning from the mistakes we made,” he wrote.

Gentiloni is 'honest and loyal but it doesn't mean that he will be a puppet' for Renzi — Alessia Mosca, a Socialist MEP

Renzi’s decision to step away from the daily fray to honor his win-or-go pledge ahead of last week’s critical constitutional referendum (which he lost, badly) carries risks for him and his center-left party. By choosing to lose power rather than lose face, he gives up the wheel in Rome.

5Star rising

With Renzi largely out of view, his opponents have more time to organize and have a politically weaker adversary in power. The anti-establishment 5Star Movement claimed victory and political momentum in the referendum, and wants new elections sooner than later.

“This is a new Renzi government but in disguise,” Giulia Grillo, the 5Star’s chief whip in parliament, told La7 television Sunday.

The 5Star Movement lead Renzi’s party by two percentage points in a poll published Sunday by Corriere della Sera.

As for Gentiloni, he may also have to become his own man to succeed. People who know him liken him to Giuliano Amato or Lamberto Dini, prime ministers who were known for their seriousness rather than charisma, more than an Italian version of Dmitry Medvedev, the presidential seat warmer for Vladimir Putin in Russia who had to step aside for a bit to honor a term limit. Gentiloni is “honest and loyal but it doesn't mean that he will be a puppet” for Renzi, said Alessia Mosca, a Socialist MEP who knows him.

Gentiloni, who was foreign minister in the last Renzi cabinet, is respected and liked in the Democratic Party, which helps explain the choice. The party was badly divided by the referendum campaign, though Renzi’s leadership position for the time being looks to be safe. Gentiloni can draw on his close relationships with Renzi as well as Culture Minister Dario Franceschini, who leads a group of lawmakers of dubious loyalty to Renzi, to heal those wounds.

These relationships could, say people who know the party, also let Gentiloni claim more room for maneuver than Renzi may want him to have. Franceschini's nickname is “Tarzan,” reflecting his ability to jump from one party leader to another. If the majority of the party were to leave Renzi, nobody can take for granted that Gentiloni doesn't turn into a Brutus ready to kill Cesar. Gentiloni is “loyal” but “he will be loyal especially to the country,” one of his closest friends, former Environment Minister Ermete Realacci, told the daily La Repubblica on Sunday.

'Moderate' leftist

A Roman aristocrat who lives in a palace that bears his family name, Gentiloni attended the Classical Lyceum Torquato Tasso in Rome, one of the most prestigious secondary schools in the country, before taking up political science at university. He got his start in left-wing student politics — famously running away from home to join a political demonstration — but even then, he was described as “moderate.” Gentiloni later worked as a journalist and in politics, mostly behind the scenes, growing close to the former mayor of Rome, Francesco Rutelli, before becoming a well-regarded minister of communication between 2006 and 2008.

Now Gentiloni takes over, hoping to form a new government in time for Thursday’s summit of EU leaders in Brussels, Italian media say.

The most urgent dossier is the rescue of Monte dei Paschi di Siena. Following Friday’s move by the European Central Bank to reject a request from Italy’s ailing third-largest lender for extra time to raise €5 billion to turn itself around, the state is expected to step in to shore up a banking system weighed down with €360 billion in non-performing loans.

Treasury minister Pier Carlo Padoan, who has a good relationship with his German counterpart Wolfgang Schäuble, is expected to keep his post in the new government.

Renzi wanted early elections, but Italy's president stopped him, saying the country needs new electoral rules first.

The ECB decision prompted Renzi to move to end the political drama set off by his resignation earlier in the week. He pressed on President Sergio Mattarella in public and private to tap Gentiloni, staying true to his reputation for centralized control and pushiness. According to Italy's constitution, Matterella gets to decide whom to pick to try to form a government.

Gentiloni’s other priority in the coming months will be to find consensus in parliament for a new electoral law for both chambers of the legislature. The previous reform was rejected in the referendum.

Renzi’s initial instinct was to force early polls, but Mattarella stopped him, saying Italy needs to finalize the electoral rules first. The delay is maybe bad news for Renzi’s future, or at the least he seems to think so. So he went for the next best alternative: A politician whom he trusts to serve out his term, in the hopes that he can enter Rome in glory again, one day.