Giorgia Meloni receives government contract from Mattarella

Political Italy briefly held its breath on Friday evening. A short meeting was scheduled to formally hand over the task of forming a government to the big winner of the last elections, Giorgia Meloni. But the conversation between President Sergio Mattarella and Meloni dragged on and lasted more than an hour – so long that the media became restless and sent push messages about the unusual length of the conversation.

Finally, the meeting ended with concrete results. Giorgia Meloni went before the press and read the list of ministers without further comment. The new government is expected to take the oath of office on Saturday morning. It will then be fully operational, but it still has to survive the votes of confidence in both chambers of Parliament in the next few days.

Meloni prevails

A look at the list of ministers shows that Meloni has largely prevailed. Special requests from their alliance partners Matteo Salvini from the Lega and Silvio Berlusconi from Forza Italia were not fulfilled. Salvini had speculated on the Ministry of the Interior, Berlusconi wanted one of his political companions, Elisabetta Casellati, to head the Ministry of Justice.

Both positions have now been given elsewhere. The interior minister will be the technocrat Matteo Piantedosi, who is close to the Lega and is currently the prefect of Rome responsible for the security of the Eternal City and former head of Salvini’s cabinet when he was interior minister. Minister of Justice will be Carlo Nordio, a former judge and member of Meloni’s Fratelli d’Italia party.

Salvini and Berlusconi were satisfied by Meloni, however, in that the post of deputy head of government was created for both the Lega (with Salvini, who will also become Infrastructure Minister) and Forza d’Italia (with the new Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani).

Of course, the Ministry of Economics and Finance is more important than the two ministries that have been controversial until recently. After the originally planned technocrats had canceled, this office is now being addressed Giancarlo Giorgetti, an internal party opponent of Salvini. He is the only minister in the new government who was also a member of Mario Draghi’s government. Giorgetti, who got along extremely well with Draghi, studied economics and is considered pragmatic. His appointment should be greeted with satisfaction by the financial markets.

First woman to head government

Giorgia Meloni has now reached the peak of her power. Your Fratelli d’Italia, which emerged from the post-fascist movement, languished for years with around six percent of the voters before they made the big jump to over 26 percent in the elections of September 25, 2022.

The 45-year-old Roman is the first woman to head an Italian government. It is also the most right-wing cabinet in Italy since World War II. Observers are now eagerly awaiting the first steps of the new team. Under Mario Draghi, Italy has recently grown significantly in stature and importance within Europe.

A few days of transition now follow. On the sidelines of the European Council in Brussels, Draghi said he did not want to give his successor any advice.

Meloni set a first small accent when she drove up to the courtyard of the Quirinale Palace in her small white Fiat 500 on Friday afternoon – it was a striking contrast to the whole pomp at the President’s official residence. Meloni has a good grasp of such popular gestures. Above all, to the obvious astonishment of her partners in the legal alliance, she has a strong will to get things done.

Both Salvini and Berlusconi had caused a great deal of unrest in recent weeks and days. The Corriere della Sera designated the chaos the two had caused, aptly called a “government crisis before the government was formed.”

Berlusconi’s antics

Silvio Berlusconi’s escapades in particular have recently caused a stir. This described the head of the Fratelli as “opinionated, haughty, arrogant, insulting” and incapable of cooperation. A discussion ensued, and Berlusconi had to take the Canossa walk to Melonis Fratelli d’Italia’s party headquarters.

Shortly thereafter, audio recordings were released exposing Berlusconi’s questionable positions on Russia and President Vladimir Putin in a way that alarmed Italy’s international partners. He has resumed contact with Putin, said Berlusconi at an event organized by his parliamentary group. The Russian President sent him twenty bottles of vodka and a “sweet letter”, according to the recordings of the party event released to the press. A gift to which he replied by sending twenty bottles of Lambrusco and a letter.

But Berlusconi’s statements about Putin’s war motives caused more uproar than this exchange of alcohol. He attacked Ukraine “only because of the strong internal political pressure”, ultimately he was a “man of peace”, whereas Volodymyr Zelenskiy was actually responsible for the escalation.

It couldn’t have been worse for Giorgia Meloni. She, who had done everything in the election campaign to present herself and Italy as reliable partners in the eyes of the world, now found herself caught in the middle of a conflagration. For his part, Berlusconi had to backtrack and complained that his statements had been taken out of context.

The question arises as to whether Meloni can keep her difficult partners in check in the long run. Quite a few observers are predicting a short lifespan for their government. After all, all the excitement had a not unimportant side effect. It ended – for the time being! – in an even clearer commitment by Giorgia Melonis for NATO and Europe. You have the “intention to lead a government with a clear and unambiguous foreign policy line,” she said, “Italy is fully and with my head held high part of Europe and the Atlantic alliance”. Affair a suivre!