ROME —
populist leader
Giorgia Meloni took office Sunday as Italy’s first woman prime
minister, calling on the fractious members of her coalition government to unite
as they face looming crises on several fronts.
اضافة اعلان
Four weeks after
her Brothers of Italy party won general elections, Meloni formally assumed
office in a handover ceremony with outgoing premier Mario Draghi, before
gathering her cabinet.
“We must be
united, there are emergencies the country is facing. We have to work together,”
the 45-year-old told her ministers during their first meeting, lasting half an
hour.
The new government
is the most right-wing in Italy since World War II and takes power at a time of
soaring inflation and an energy crisis linked to the Russia-Ukraine war.
It has already
been rocked by tensions within Meloni’s coalition, which includes Matteo
Salvini’s far-right League party and former premier Silvio Berlusconi’s
right-wing Forza Italia.
Meloni was
forced this week to repeat her unwavering support for Ukraine and Western
sanctions against Russia after Berlusconi was recorded defending President
Vladimir Putin.
The prospect of
a Eurosceptic, populist government taking the helm of the eurozone’s third
largest economy has already sparked concern among Italy’s allies, particularly
in the EU.
European
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Saturday she had a “good first
call” with Meloni, saying she looked forward to “constructive cooperation”.
Chancellor Olaf
Scholz of Germany said he wanted to keep “working closely together with Italy
in EU,
NATO, and G7” — a sentiment Meloni reflected in responses to
congratulatory messages on Twitter.
A spokesman for
French President Emmanuel Macron meanwhile left open Sunday the possibility
that he will be the first foreign leader to meet Meloni, as he headed to Rome
and the Vatican for a pre-planned visit.
Reassuring
ministers
Meloni and her 24 ministers were sworn in on Saturday before President
Sergio Mattarella and she declared her intention to get “straight to work”.
On Sunday Meloni
joined outgoing prime minister Draghi, a former European Central Bank chief who
took over in February 2021, for a formal handover of power.
They held private talks for almost 90 minutes before
a smiling Draghi symbolically handed to Meloni a small bell used in cabinet
debates, which she, grinning, rang a few times for the television cameras.
As a teenage
activist, Meloni praised late dictator
Benito Mussolini, but insists fascism is
history and has transformed her party from a marginal group of radicals to a
national force.
Brothers of
Italy won just 4 percent of the vote in 2018 elections, but secured a 26
percent in the September 25 poll.
During 18 months
as the only real opposition to Draghi’s national unity government, Meloni swept
up disillusioned voters, presenting herself as a straight-talking defender of
traditional values and Italy’s national interests.
But her
ministerial experience is limited to three years as youth minister under
Berlusconi’s 2008–2011 government, while her party has never held power.
In an attempt to
reassure investors that Italy’s debt-laden economy was safe in her hands,
Meloni has appointed Giancarlo Giorgetti as economy minister.
Giorgetti, who
served as minister of economic development under Draghi, is considered one of
the more moderate, pro-Europe members of Salvini’s League.
Draghi’s energy
minister, Roberto Cingolani, will stay on as government advisor as Italy tries
to wean itself off Russian gas, reports said.
Coalition tensions
Meloni’s party no longer wants Italy to leave the EU’s single currency
but remains strongly Eurosceptic, as is the League, which won 9 percent in the
elections.
However, she
named committed European Antonio Tajani, a former president of the European
Parliament who co-founded Forza Italia with Berlusconi, as foreign minister and
deputy prime minister.
Salvini will
serve as deputy prime minister and minister of infrastructure and transport.
Like Berlusconi,
Salvini is a long-time fan of Putin and has criticized Western sanctions
imposed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
On Saturday
Meloni again affirmed her desire to work with NATO, which she described as
“more than a military alliance: a bulwark of common values we’ll never stop
standing for”.
NATO chief Jens
Stoltenberg and US President
Joe Biden sent their congratulations, as did
Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky.
The tensions
with her allies reinforce doubts as to how long she can keep her coalition
together, in a country that has had almost 70 governments since 1946.
Pope Francis noted the
start of the new government in his weekly Angelus Sunday, offering his prayers
for “unity and peace in Italy”.
Read more Region and World
Jordan News
.jpg)
.jpg)
