ROME: Italy’s anti-establishment 5-Star Movement and the far-right League on Monday proposed Giuseppe Conte, a little-known law professor who is not in parliament, as prime minister to lead their big-spending coalition government.
After meeting President Sergio Mattarella, the leaders of both parties said they had chosen Conte minister to end 11 weeks of deadlock after inconclusive elections on March 4.
“I am very proud of this choice, Giuseppe Conte will carry forward our government contract,” 5-Star leader Luigi Di Maio said after leaving the presidential palace.
The two anti-establishment parties finalised a policy agenda or “contract” last week after 10 days of negotiations, calling for billions of euros in tax cuts, additional spending on welfare for the poor, and a roll-back of pension reforms.
There was no word from President Mattarella, who formally nominates the prime minister and is not obliged to approve the parties’ choice.
Conte, who teaches at Florence University, has no political experience but is close to 5-Star, and was one of the people put forward by the party as a possible minister before the election when he vowed to simplify Italy’s labyrinthine bureaucracy.
“First we have to drastically abolish useless laws,” Conte said, adding that there were “many more” than the 400 pieces of superfluous legislation previously cited by Di Maio.
That was the first time Conte, 54, had appeared in the public spotlight, though he is on the board of numerous academic and judicial bodies and had participated in conferences on justice matters organised by 5-Star.
Italy’s borrowing costs surged further on Monday, with two-year bond yields at their highest level since December 2016.
Investors fear Italy’s new government will go on a spending spree that will increase an already huge debt pile — worth more than 130 per cent of annual economic output — and contravene European Union fiscal rules. Markets were also hammered last week when the two parties presented their government plans.
If President Mattarella gives his blessing to Conte the parties could put a cabinet together rapidly and hold confidence votes in parliament later this week.
5-Star and the League have tried to allay those concerns and, after meeting the president, both Di Maio and League leader Matteo Salvini urged foreign observers to give their government a chance.
“The situation is pretty unprecedented and bizarre, so it’s hard to predict how it is going to end up,” said Giovanni Orsina, politics professor at Rome’s Luiss University.
Orsina said the way Conte had got the job nomination made him appear weak, but that may not necessarily be the case. “It all depends on his personality,” he said. “He is being put there as a notary to follow the parties’ orders, but the position of prime minister carries its own strength and he will be the one that holds everything together.”
Published in Dawn, May 22nd, 2018
