Italy should know the name of the new president of the council, as well as the composition of the new government on Monday, following an announcement that the two populist parties who won March’s elections have agreed on forming a coalition government.
On Sunday, the boss of the far-right League Party announced an agreement on the composition of the next Italian government with the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S), to be submitted on Monday to the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella.
“We have agreed on the head and the ministers of the government, and we hope that no one will veto a choice that represents the will of the majority of Italians,” said Salvini, adding that neither he nor Luigi Di Maio, leader of the M5S, will be prime minister.
The front runner to fill that post is Giuseppe Conte, 54, a lawyer who is almost unknown in Italy, who teaches private law in Florence and Rome, specialising in administrative justice. The name of Andrea Roventini, 41, a young economist teaching at the University of Pisa, has also been mentioned as a possible contender. As has Paolo Savona, 81, who was industry minister in 1993-1994 and who always opposed the Maastricht Treaty, a position that might work in his favour with the new Euro-sceptic government.
On Friday the League and M5S unveiled a “government contract” which turns its back on the austerity and “dictates” of Brussels and promises the strongest stance against corruption, all forms of crime and immigration.
On Sunday, a large majority of supporters of the League (91 percent) supported the government contract established between the two parties. M5S, who topped the general elections on 4 March, organised a similar consultation on the internet on Friday, and also obtained widespread support.
The document provides for a reduction in tax levies of several billion euros, an increase in public spending for the disadvantaged and the abandonment of an unpopular pension reform.
