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Berlusconi returns to power with new govt
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi resolved a bruising row with his coalition partners on Saturday and named a new government tasked with reviving the sluggish economy ahead of next year's general election.
The cabinet was sworn in at a swift ceremony at the Quirinale presidential palace that stood in stark contrast to 2001 when Berlusconi's initial team took the oath of office amidst much backslapping and applause.
Center-left opposition politicians said the new government, put together in just three days, was a carbon copy of the old administration and would be incapable of confronting the economic and social problems besieging Italy.
But coalition allies said the cabinet represented a break with the past, and promised that it would focus its efforts on boosting industry, increasing employment in the poorer south and protecting the purchasing power of Italian families.
Saturday's overhaul saw the appointment of new health, communications, industry and culture ministers.
It also marked a return to front line politics for Berlusconi's long time ally, Giulio Tremonti, who was named deputy prime minister just 10 months after being ousted as economy minister during ferocious coalition feuding.
Berlusconi was forced to step down last week by two allies who demanded radical strategy changes after the center right suffered a crushing defeat in April regional elections.
Both the rebel parties, the National Alliance (AN) and the Union of Christian Democrats (UDC), have returned to the new government after winning assurances that it would address the problems of the south, where unemployment is 16 percent.
The prime minister was livid at being forced to quit and has emerged from the crisis with his authority dented. However, he has at least managed to stave off the threat of a snap election which opinion polls had predicted he would lose.
NO MONEY
Berlusconi's political woes have grown out of Italy's economic troubles. Latest data suggest the economy fell into recession in the first quarter of 2005, the trade deficit is climbing and business confidence is at a 20-month low.
However, Berlusconi's government will struggle to find fresh funds to finance any meaningful new projects ahead of the parliamentary election, which must take place by May 2006.
The European Union has already warned Italy that it risks breaking budget deficit rules in 2005 and put Berlusconi on guard not to try to spend his way out of trouble.
There is also no guarantee that the new administration will enjoy any greater political stability than its predecessor as the various coalition parties jockey for prominence in the runup to the 2006 election.
The return of Tremonti could also cause tensions. He holds foreign minister Gianfranco Fini largely responsible for his demise as economy minister and reportedly has frosty relations with his successor at the Treasury -- Domenico Siniscalco.
Junior coalition party the Northern League emerged unscathed from the turmoil, keeping all its cabinet posts despite complaints from the AN and UDC that it had too prominent a role given its limited electoral weight.
The UDC by contrast lost one of its four cabinet posts and although the AN gained a seat, taking over the high-profile Health Ministry, the reshuffle has revealed deep fissures at the heart of the rightist party.
"This is just a rancid second-course dish that has been reheated," said former anti-corruption magistrate Antonio Di Pietro, who is a prominent center-left politician. The government will have to win a vote of confidence in parliament next week, but that should be a formality. |
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