Eleven weeks after the vote that brought the populist Five-Star Movement and right-wing Northern League to power, the two parties have agreed on Prime Minister to lead the new government.
A lawyer specialised in civil and administrative law, Giuseppe Conte could become the next Italian Prime Minister following the agreement reached between Luigi Di Maio and Matteo Salvini, the respective leaders of the 5-star Movement (M5S) and the League, the parties that topped the poll in the March elections.
His CV published on the M5S website runs to 12 pages and mentions study and research stays in the some of the most prestigious universities around the world.
He has taught at universities in Sardinia, Rome, Florence and Malta and currently teaches private law courses in Florence and at the prestigious Luiss University in Rome. He also has a legal practice in Rome.
He has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Italian Space Agency, a legal consultant to the Rome Chamber of Commerce, and a member of the supervisory board of several insurance companies in bankruptcy.
On Friday, the League and the M5S unveiled a “government contract” that turns its back on the austerity and the “diktats” of Brussels while promising to crack down on corruption and tighten immigration.
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.
If Giuseppe Conte is confirmed as prime minister, it is expected that Luigi Di Maio and Matteo Salvini will be part of the future government: the first as Minister of Labour, the second as Minister of the interior.
The confirmation of the future Italian Prime Minister and the formation of the new government are expected in the coming days.
