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Italy's President Giorgio Napolitano
(C) speaks to reporters after consultations at Quirinale palace in
Rome May 7, 2008. Italy's president started talks with political leaders
over Prime Minister-elect Silvio Berlusconi's new government, which is
expected to be sworn in by the end of the week. (Xinhua/Reuters
Photo)
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ROME,
May 7 (Xinhua) -- Italian President Giorgio Napolitano Wednesday evening asked
center-right coalition leader Silvio Berlusconi to form a new Italian
government, the 62nd since the end of WWII.
Berlusconi broke with protocol and made history by
immediately accepting and handing the president a list of ministers who will be
in his new government.
Traditionally, a candidate asked to form a government
accepts "with reservations," only to return several days later with his list and
a decision to lift his "reservations."
Berlusconi's new government, which will be sworn in
Thursday afternoon, will be composed of 12 full ministers and a dozen or
soministers without portfolio.
Napolitano took less than two days to consult with
political forces represented in parliament, as well as his predecessors as head
of state, before offering Berlusconi a mandate.
Berlusconi's People of Freedom party (PDL), allied
with the devolutionist Northern League, firmly won Italy's snap elections last
month with majorities in both the Lower House and Senate.
This is the third time that the 71-year-old media
tycoon has led a government. The first was a brief executive following the 1996
elections and the second his full-term executive from 2001 to 2006, Italy's
longest government.
Berlusconi's PDL is a fledgling party created before
the elections through the merger of his Forza Italia party and the right-wing
National Alliance (AN).
Forza Italia has the lion's share of ministerial
posts, while AN and the Northern League, which ran on the same ticket as the
PDL, will have a minority status.
Berlusconi's long-time aide Gianni Letta returns as
cabinet secretary, while former economy minister Giulio Tremonti and former
foreign minister Franco Frattini have their old jobs back.
As expected, the Northern League's Roberto Maroni
will act as interior minister, while party leader Umberto Bossi will be in
charge of reform and his deputy Roberto Calderoli will get a new post
responsible for simplifying Italy's tangled maze of laws and regulations.
Ignazio La Russa, leader of the AN, is the new
defense minister, while fellow AN members Altero Matteoli will hold the
portfolio for public works and transport.
Berlusconi faces tough job as Italian
PM for 3rd time
ROME, April 15 (Xinhua) -- Media mogul Silvio Berlusconi
won his third term as Italian prime minister on Monday, but the job would not be
easy.
Though Berlusconi-led center-right alliance won a
comfortable majority in both the lower house and the Senate of the Italy's
national parliament, analysts attributed his victory primarily to the help from
his allies. Full story
Profile: Berlusconi
returns
ROME, April 14 (Xinhua)
-- Media mogul Silvio Berlusconi won his third term as Italy's prime minister at
a two-day general election which ended on Monday.
Born in Milan in Sept. 29, 1936, Berlusconi is not only a
politician, but also an entrepreneur and media tycoon.
He entered politics in 1994 as founder of the center-right
Forza Italia (Go, Italy) party and before the 2008 general election he launched
the new political party People of Freedom in February which merged Forza Italia
with National Alliance and other liberal and conservative parties. Full story
Italy's center-left concedes defeat in
general election
ROME,
April 14 (Xinhua) -- Italy's center-left led by former Rome mayor Walter
Veltroni conceded defeat on Monday to two-time Premier Silvio Berlusconi in the
general election.
"As is customary in all Western democracy, and as I feel
it is right to do, I called the leader of the People of Freedom, Silvio
Berlusconi, to acknowledge his victory and wish him good luck in his job,"
Veltroni told reporters. Full story
