SOn Friday afternoon, President Sergio Mattarella commissioned Giorgia Meloni from the right-wing conservative Brothers of Italy party to form a government. After the expected confirmation by Parliament, the 45-year-old Roman woman will become the first woman in the history of the Republic of Italy to hold the highest government office.
In the morning, the party leaders of the centre-right alliance – in addition to Meloni, the former Interior Minister Matteo Salvini from the right-wing national Lega and the former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi from the Christian Democratic Forza Italia – were received by the President for a short joint conversation. The designated coalition partners had unanimously proposed Meloni as the future head of government. Meloni said after the call that she and her cabinet are ready to immediately assume government responsibilities in these difficult times for Italy and Europe. On Thursday, Mattarella held conferences with the presidents of the two chambers of parliament and with the leaders of the opposition parties.
Former President of the EU Parliament becomes Foreign Minister
Meloni presented her cabinet list to the President in the Quirinal Palace. According to the constitution, the head of state must confirm all members of the government. Lega boss Salvini, who as interior minister ordered a port closure for ships with rescued boat migrants on board from June 2018 to September 2019, is to take over the transport department in the Meloni government. Berlusconi’s party friend Antonio Tajani, who was President of the European Parliament from 2017 to 2019, is planned as foreign minister. Salvini and Tajani will also each take on the post of deputy prime minister.
Giancarlo Giorgetti is to hold the post of Economy Minister. Giorgetti represents the economically liberal wing of the Lega and is considered the preferred candidate by entrepreneurs and the financial industry. Matteo Piantedosi, acting prefect and police chief of the capital Rome, is to become the new interior minister. Guido Crosetto and outgoing MEP Raffaele Fitto, two of Meloni’s close confidants, are to take over the defense and EU affairs departments, respectively. Lega’s Roberto Calderoli is envisaged as minister for regional affairs, with the respected judge Carlo Nordio of the Brothers of Italy taking over the justice portfolio.
During the negotiations with the coalition partners, Meloni opposed Salvini’s demand that he be entrusted with the interior department again because proceedings against the Lega boss for allegations of deprivation of liberty and abuse of office in connection with the port closures for rescue ships are pending. Meloni also rejected Berlusconi’s call for a politician from Forza Italia to fill the Ministry of Justice. Because the four-time Prime Minister has to answer for the allegation of bribery of witnesses in previous proceedings for the notorious Bunga-Bunga sex parties again in court.
In Rome it is expected that the Meloni cabinet will be sworn in by President Mattarella at the Quirinale Palace this weekend. During the brief first talks with Meloni and her allies, the President was able to convince himself of the unity of the three parties – despite the leaked messages from Berlusconi to parliamentarians in his party in the past few days about his renewed friendship with Russian President Vladimir Putin and about the Ukraine war, for which, according to Berlusconi, the government in Kyiv is to blame.
The new government must face a vote of confidence in both houses of parliament no later than ten days after President Mattarella’s inauguration. The votes in the House of Representatives and in the Senate are scheduled for Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest. Forming a government within a month of the September 25 parliamentary elections is considered extraordinarily quick. On average, forming a government in Italy takes more than two months.