Giorgia Meloni has arrived in a white Fiat at the Quirinal Palace, seat of the presidency of the Italian Republic, and has left with a gray car, the institutional vehicle. She has entered as the winner of the elections on September 25, and she has left as the first woman in the history of Italy to receive the task of forming a government by the President of the Republic.
The head of state, Sergio Mattarella, has summoned the far-right this Friday after listening to all the parliamentary groups and, after more than an hour attending to his proposals, has formally asked him to lead the next Italian executive. He will do so starting this Saturday at 10 in the morning, when the oath will take place, less than a month after the elections. It is one of the fastest lighting governments that are remembered in the country. The last time a prime minister accepted the assignment without reservations, a protocol formula, was in 2008, with Silvio Berlusconi. “We are ready because we want to proceed in the shortest time possible,” Meloni assured, citing the serious “national and international emergencies” facing Italy.
Very smiling, but with a deep voice, Meloni limited himself to reading his list of ministers, including the leader of the League, Matteo Salvini, and the number two of Forza Italia, Antonio Tajani, who will also be his deputy prime ministers. Salvini has finally been left without being Minister of the Interior again and will deal with the Infrastructure portfolio, from where he will also be able to try to block the ports to immigrants.
Tajani, former president of the European Parliament, has been appointed Foreign Minister, as planned, despite the fact that this week he justified his political father, Silvio Berlusconi, in his scandalous statements about his friendship with Vladimir Putin. The journalist is a convinced pro-European and will be in charge of mediating possible tensions that may exist with Europe. He will be accompanied by the new European Affairs Minister, Raffaele Fitto, who until now was Meloni's man in Brussels. He is one of the colonels he trusts the most.
This is how the most right-wing Italian government since World War II was born, with some ministries with new names that give a good sign of where the shots will go: “Company and Made in Italy”, “Agriculture and Food Sovereignty”, “Education and Merit ”, “South and Policies of the Sea” or “Family, Natality and Equal Opportunities”. One of the most important portfolios, that of Economy, will finally not be for a technician but for Giancarlo Giorgetti, a historical representative of the moderate soul of the League who until now was Mario Draghi's Minister of Economic Development, and who, according to what they say, was very well seen by the former president of the European Central Bank (ECB). It has been plan B after the rejection of Fabio Panetta, member of the executive council of the ECB, Meloni's favorite for the position. Matteo Piantedosi, a technician who was Salvini's chief of staff, until now prefect (government delegate) in Rome, will go to Interior. Guido Crossetto, who helped Meloni found Brothers of Italy, will be defense minister, a key role at the moment. The conflict of interest has not weighed, since he had many relationships with the arms industry. Neither does the family member: Meloni's brother-in-law, Francesco Lollobrigida, will be the new Minister of Agriculture.
In short, an executive carefully designed to balance the powers between the majority parties and keep everyone happy, with hardly any technicians, despite the fact that Meloni herself had said that she could count on "high profile" people if she did not have them. among their ranks. It will be the first Italian government led by a woman, but it will have only six women among its 24 ministries. After the oath, on Sunday the traditional handover ceremony will be held with the outgoing government of Mario Draghi and just after Meloni will hold her first council of ministers.
This Friday has been an important day for the far-right. Not only has she gotten Mattarella's job without her raising any objections to her list of ministers, but she has also crowned herself head of the right-wing coalition. After a week marked by Berlusconi's outbursts with Russia, Meloni took command and did not allow him to speak either during the brief consultations they had with President Mattarella in the morning or in his statements to the press. Il Cavaliere, once the captain of the Italian right, has been forced to remain silent and to make a face, but little else. Now the power has Meloni.
