Giorgia Meloni: The far-right government is sworn in, the first in the history of Italy led by a woman

The leader of the far-right Brothers of Italy, Giorgia Meloniwas sworn in today as the new prime minister, the first woman in that position in the history of the countryin a ceremony before the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella.

“I swear to be faithful to the Republic, loyally comply with the Constitution and the laws, and exercise my mandate and my functions in the exclusive interest of the nation”, He pronounced before the head of state, in the Hall of the Festivals of the Roman Quirinal Palace.

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act followed MeloniDressed in a black suit, she signed the decree of her appointment and shook hands with Mattarella, then stood to his left to preside over the swearing-in of the rest of her twenty-four ministers.

The first to do so were its two vice presidents, Matteo Salvini and Antonio Tajani, respective exponents of the far-right Liga and the conservative Forza Italia, the other two parties of the right-wing coalition that won the general elections on September 25.

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Salvini It will also have the portfolio of Infrastructures and Sustainable Mobility, with port powers with which it will surely try to cut off the disembarkation of immigrants, and the Europeanist Tajani that of Foreign Affairs, in a clear message abroad.

Italian President Sergio Mattarella greets new Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni (front) as she arrives for the swearing-in ceremony of the new Italian government. (FABIO FRUSTACI / ANSA / AFP).

The oath was attended by all the ministers and, as protocol dictates, the Undersecretary of the Presidency of the Government, Alfredo Mantovano, one of the most influential positions in the cabinet and who will assume during the first Council of Ministers tomorrow, was absent.

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During this procedure Meloni displayed signs of complicity with some of his new ministers, smiling especially at his Defense Minister, Guido Crosetto, his right-hand man and co-founder of FdI, or the European Affairs Minister, Raffaele Fitto.

The ceremony was also attended by the relatives of the members of the new Government and in the first row could be seen Meloni’s partner, the journalist Andrea Giambruno, and their daughter, Ginevra, 5 years old, who entered the palace jumping and with a backpack.

This Government, number 68 in almost eight decades of democracy after World War II, is the most markedly right-wing in memoryled by the Brothers from Italythe heir party to the post-fascist Italian Social Movement.

For example, it will have a Minister for the Family, Natality and Equal Opportunities, Eugenia Roccella, from FdI, a champion of the “pro-life” movements and a battering ram against the LGBT movement.

On the other hand, the new Executive will have technical figures in nine key positions, but with a marked political character. This is the case of the new Minister of the Interior, Matteo Piantedosi, Salvini’s chief of staff when he was in government (2018-2019).

Giorgia Meloni leaves after the swearing-in ceremony of the new Italian Government at the Quirinal Palace in Rome, Italy, on October 22, 2022. (EFE/EPA/GIUSEPPE LAMI).

In addition, although it is the first Executive chaired by a woman in Italian history, its composition is markedly male, with only six ministers, half in positions without portfolio (Institutional Reforms, Disability and Family).

Likewise, a particularity that has caught the attention of the Meloni Executive is the nomenclature of some of its ministries (during the oath the old names of these portfolios were proclaimed, but they will be modified in the first Council of Ministers).

For example, Economic Development will be renamed the Ministry of Business and “Made in Italy”, the Ministry of Education will also be of Merit, and the Ministry of Agriculture will add the term “Food Sovereignty”, which is causing jokes and irony in the country. This Sunday the transfer of powers will be staged with the outgoing Prime Minister, Mario Draghi, and then Meloni will preside over the Council of Ministers for the first time.

Then, predictably at the beginning of next week, the investiture of the Executive will arrive in the two seats of Parliament, the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, a formalism since the right has an absolute majority.

As an anecdote, Meloni made a mistake when he announced his list of ministers and later had to rectify the correct positions with a statement: Gilberto Pichetto Fratin in Environment and Energy Security, and Paolo Zangrillo in Public Administration.

The day at the Quirinal Palace, former seat of popes and kings and today of the head of state, high above Rome, concluded with a picket of honor for Meloni, the first for an Italian president.

Then he got into an official car and headed for the nearby Chigi Palace, the seat of government, where he will work for the next five years of the legislature, as long as he remains in power, something rare in the always hectic Italian politics.

Source: Elcomercio