On Friday, Georgia Meloni became Italy’s first female premier, choosing her ministerial team to stamp her mark on the country’s most right-wing government since World War II.
Meloni, leader of the Brothers of Italy, won last month’s elections by allying himself with Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia and Matteo Salvini’s Lega.
His government, the 68th in Italy since 1946, replaces a national unity government led by former head of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi, who attended an EU summit in Brussels on Friday in one of his last duties as prime minister.
Meloni’s government faces daunting challenges, including a looming recession, rising energy costs and seeking a united front in the war in Ukraine.
Meloni, 45, appointed the Northern League’s Giancarlo Giorgetti minister of the economy and said that the foreign ministry would go to Antonio Tajani of Forza Italia.
“Georgia Meloni has accepted the mandate and presented its list of ministers” after consulting President Sergio Mattarella at the Quirinale, presidential official Ugo Zampeti told reporters.
The list of Meloni ministers, which transformed the fate of the Brothers of Italy but has limited ministerial experience, included six other women.
In total, the “Brothers of Italy” party won nine ministries, the “Lega” party received five ministries, and the same for the “Forza Italia” party, while the technocrats won five other ministerial posts.
The new government was officially sworn in on Saturday morning, after which it will face a vote of confidence next week in both houses of parliament.
signs of stress
Although the process of forming a new government was quick for the standard Italians, revealed tension in the coalition, with Silvio Berlusconi apparently seeking to undermine Meloni’s authority.
Berlusconi, 86, a senator, did not get a cabinet seat as expected.
Salvini, the leader of the League, whose power shrank after his party’s relatively poor election results, will become Minister of Infrastructure in the Meloni government.
Among other important ministerial posts, the Ministry of the Interior went to Matteo Piantedosi, a veteran civil servant without parties. Guido Crosetto, one of the founders of the Brothers of Italy party, will take over the defense ministry.
Meloni stressed this week that his administration would be a strong supporter of NATO and Europe. “Anyone who disagrees with this cornerstone must not be part of the government,” she said.
Read More About: World News
