President of the Italian party Fratelli d’Italia (Brothers of Italy) Giorgia Meloni next to former Prime Minister and leader of Forza Italia (FI) party Silvio Berlusconi (L), addresses the media after a gathering with Italian President Sergio Mattarella for the primary round of formal political consultations for brand spanking new government on the Quirinale Palace in Rome on October 21, 2022.
Ettore Ferrari | AFP | Getty Images
Giorgia Meloni was on Friday named as Italy’s first woman prime minister and selected her cabinet team, setting her seal on the country’s most right-wing government since World War Two.
Meloni, head of the nationalist Brothers of Italy, swept to victory in an election last month in alliance with Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia and Matteo Salvini’s League.
Her government – Italy’s 68th since 1946 – will replace a national unity administration led by former European Central Bank head Mario Draghi, who attended a European Union summit in Brussels on Friday in considered one of his last acts as prime minister.
She faces daunting challenges, notably a looming recession, rising energy bills and how you can present a united front over the Ukraine war.
Meloni, 45, named Giancarlo Giorgetti of the League party as her economy minister and said the foreign ministry will go to Antonio Tajani from Forza Italia.
“Giorgia Meloni has accepted the mandate and has presented her list of ministers,” presidential official Ugo Zampetti told reporters after she held talks with President Sergio Mattarella in his Quirinale palace in Rome.
The list of ministers read out by Meloni, who has transformed the fortunes of the Brothers of Italy but has only limited ministerial experience, included just six other women.
In all, nine ministries were handed out to Brothers of Italy politicians and five each to the League and Forza Italia, with technocrats given an additional five cabinet posts.
The brand new government can be formally sworn in on Saturday morning, after which it can face confidence votes in each houses of parliament next week.
Tensions surface
Although the means of putting together a recent administration has been rapid by Italian standards, it has exposed tensions within the coalition, with Berlusconi repeatedly appearing to attempt to undermine Meloni’s authority.
Berlusconi, who’s 86, and sits within the Senate, as expected didn’t take a cupboard role.
League leader Salvini, whose authority was dented by his party’s relatively poor showing within the election, can be infrastructure minister.
Amongst other top cabinet posts, the inside ministry went to Matteo Piantedosi, a profession civil servant with no party affiliation, and the defence ministry to Guido Crosetto, considered one of the founders of Brothers of Italy.
Meloni stressed this week that her administration can be firmly pro-NATO and pro-European. “Anyone who doesn’t agree with this cornerstone can’t be a part of the federal government,” she said.
She asserted her authority after Berlusconi told Forza Italia lawmakers that he blamed Ukraine for the war there and said he had exchanged gifts and “sweet letters” with Russian President Vladimir Putin.