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Italian President Sergio Mattarella on Sunday asked outgoing Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni to serve as the new prime minister of a new transitional government.
Gentiloni was summoned to the Quirinale presidential palace earlier and he was officially given the mandate to form a new government, after the resignation of Matteo Renzi as the prime minister of the previous government.
Renzi stepped down on Dec. 7, after suffering a defeat in a crucial referendum on constitutional reform last Sunday.
"The broad framework of political consultations (with all party leaders) carried out by President Mattarella will be the basis of my efforts to define composition and program of the new government," Gentiloni told a press conference.
The decision would mark a swift solution of the political crisis triggered by Renzi's resignation, as the president had vowed after closing a round of talks with party leaders on Saturday.
Having accepted the mandate, Gentiloni will now consult with other political forces in order to draw a list of new ministers as soon as possible.
As expected, he would rely on the same parliamentary forces that had supported Renzi's cabinet, since opposition forces were calling for early elections, and said they were not available to take part in a national unity government.
"Consultations showed the unwillingness of major opposition forces to share responsibilities in a new government," Gentiloni explained. "Therefore, not by choice but out of sense of responsibility, we will move within the framework of the outgoing government and majority."
The new cabinet could be sworn in as soon as on Tuesday, local media reported. Then, it will have to ask for a confidence vote in each of the two houses of the parliament.
If such plan will be timely fulfilled, Gentiloni would be able to represent the country at the table of the next European Union (EU) Council scheduled for Dec. 15, which was a strong wish expressed by Mattarella.
The newly appointed prime minister said he was aware of the urgency "to give Italy a full-functioning government."
In this perspective, he stressed a priority of his cabinet would be to "accompany, and possibly facilitate, the work of parliamentary forces in defining new electoral rules."
A change in the electoral system was in fact necessary before eventually going to early elections, since two different laws currently rule over the election of the lower house and of the senate.
Gentiloni, a 62-year-old former journalist, is considered a staunched ally of Matteo Renzi, and both of them belong to the center-left Democratic Party (PD), the largest force in the parliament.
He had served as foreign minister in Renzi's cabinet since Oct. 2014, after previous foreign minister Federica Mogherini was appointed foreign policy chief of the European Union (EU).
He was firstly elected in parliament in 2001, and served as telecommunications minister with center-left Romano Prodi government between 2006 and 2008.
(APD)
