DPA
Rome
Italy has a new left-leaning coalition government comprising the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S) and the centre-left Democratic Party (PD).
The government, which sidelines far-right leader Matteo Salvini into opposition, was announced on Wednesday after a meeting between Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and President Sergio Mattarella.
Luciana Lamorgese, a high-ranking civil servant, was named interior minister in Salvini’s place, while M5S leader Luigi Di Maio was given the Foreign Ministry - despite having no experience on the subject.
Another key appointment was Roberto Gualtieri, PD chairman of the European Parliament’s economic affairs committee, as economy minister.
"With this team, we will dedicate our best energies, skills and intense passion to make Italy a better country,” Conte told journalists.
Ministers are due to be sworn at 10 am (0800 GMT) Thursday. The government will face votes of confidence in the two houses of parliament in the following days.
PD leader Nicola Zingaretti - who refused cabinet jobs - celebrated victory. "We stopped Salvini, and just announcing this new phase is making Italy a protagonist again in Europe,” he said.
The PD and M5S are formerly bitter rivals that joined forces in common opposition to Salvini’s League party, which used to govern with the M5S but broke free of the ruling coalition last month.
Salvini hoped to trigger snap elections and possibly win the premiership, capitalizing on favourable opinion polls. He did not count on the M5S and PD working together to stop him.
Markets have rallied on the prospect of seeing Salvini, a hardline eurosceptic, out of power. Yields on Italian 10-year government bonds have fallen to around 0.8 per cent, a record low.
According to Rosa Balfour, a senior fellow at the Brussels office of the German Marshall Fund, the new government is well-positioned to play a more positive role in Europe.
"This is a great opportunity for Italy to occupy a more central role in Europe, and for Europe to have a far more trustworthy and constructive partner,” she said.
Balfour said Gualtieri and the likely nomination of former premier Paolo Gentiloni as Italy’s EU commissioner "are very clear [pro-EU] signals.”
Meanwhile, the executive director of Human Rights Watch, Kenneth Roth, urged the new executive to turn the page on Salvini’s restrictive policies.
Rome
Italy has a new left-leaning coalition government comprising the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S) and the centre-left Democratic Party (PD).
The government, which sidelines far-right leader Matteo Salvini into opposition, was announced on Wednesday after a meeting between Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and President Sergio Mattarella.
Luciana Lamorgese, a high-ranking civil servant, was named interior minister in Salvini’s place, while M5S leader Luigi Di Maio was given the Foreign Ministry - despite having no experience on the subject.
Another key appointment was Roberto Gualtieri, PD chairman of the European Parliament’s economic affairs committee, as economy minister.
"With this team, we will dedicate our best energies, skills and intense passion to make Italy a better country,” Conte told journalists.
Ministers are due to be sworn at 10 am (0800 GMT) Thursday. The government will face votes of confidence in the two houses of parliament in the following days.
PD leader Nicola Zingaretti - who refused cabinet jobs - celebrated victory. "We stopped Salvini, and just announcing this new phase is making Italy a protagonist again in Europe,” he said.
The PD and M5S are formerly bitter rivals that joined forces in common opposition to Salvini’s League party, which used to govern with the M5S but broke free of the ruling coalition last month.
Salvini hoped to trigger snap elections and possibly win the premiership, capitalizing on favourable opinion polls. He did not count on the M5S and PD working together to stop him.
Markets have rallied on the prospect of seeing Salvini, a hardline eurosceptic, out of power. Yields on Italian 10-year government bonds have fallen to around 0.8 per cent, a record low.
According to Rosa Balfour, a senior fellow at the Brussels office of the German Marshall Fund, the new government is well-positioned to play a more positive role in Europe.
"This is a great opportunity for Italy to occupy a more central role in Europe, and for Europe to have a far more trustworthy and constructive partner,” she said.
Balfour said Gualtieri and the likely nomination of former premier Paolo Gentiloni as Italy’s EU commissioner "are very clear [pro-EU] signals.”
Meanwhile, the executive director of Human Rights Watch, Kenneth Roth, urged the new executive to turn the page on Salvini’s restrictive policies.