And so it begins. Today the first session of the new Italian Senate took place. The new president has been elected: Ignazio La Russa, co-founder of the Brothers of Italy party, led by the likely future prime minister Giorgia Meloni (read his profile).
- The two-thirds majority of votes needed to elect the president was not reached in the Lower House. According to observers, the role will be assigned tomorrow – supposedly to a member of Matteo Salvini’s League.
What about the government team? Considering the formalities of the law, international frameworks and the unknown duration of the talks, the new executive’s swearing-in will likely occur on October 23 or 24. That’s quite an aggressive timeline.
The schedule is jam-packed… EU leaders are slated to touch upon the most pressing issues at the next official summit in Brussels, on October 20-21. Then, French President Emmanuel Macron is to visit Rome on October 23-24, where he will join the event “Il grido della pace” (The cry for peace) organised by the Sant’Egidio Community.
- The inaugural conference will be held at the Nuvola Auditorium, with speeches by Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Mr Macron. The two will also have lunch together.
The name game. Giancarlo Giorgetti, the outgoing Economic Development Minister, is the most-cited to become Economic and Finance Minister. He is a prominent member of the League and one of the closest allies of outgoing prime minister Mario Draghi.
But the first clouds are appearing. Today’s elections of the new parliamentary leaders was marred by plenty of internal squabbling within the centre-right coalition, that’s now the majority in Parliament. Following weeks-long clashes with Mr Salvini Salvini, Ms Meloni has now begun fighting with Silvio Berlusconi as well.
- The head of Forza Italia wasn’t content with what he believed were vetoes Ms Meloni imposed on his party members. Needless to say, such internal tensions at such an early stage do not bode well for the unity of the future government.
