Renzi to form new Italian government
Print Edition
Italy’s Matteo Renzi was nominated to be the European Union’s youngest prime minister yesterday and immediately outlined an ambitious reform plan, promising “energy, enthusiasm and commitment” to revitalise the eurozone’s third largest economy.
The 39-year-old mayor of Florence said his first priority would be to tackle unemployment and pitiful economic growth, promising Italians he would do everything possible to alleviate “despair”.
The head of the leftist Democratic Party (PD) has raised hopes in a country thirsting for change after ousting ex-premier Enrico Letta — a member of his own party whom he accused of failing to live up to reform pledges.
Renzi said he would begin formal coalition talks today and predicted they would take “a few days” as he negotiates to form a stable government that can survive until the next scheduled elections in 2018.
“We will take the time we need, with the knowledge that there is a sense of urgency out there and this is an extremely delicate and important time,” he said after being given the mandate by President Giorgio Napolitano.
“The most pressing emergency, which concerns my generation and others, is the emergency of labor, of unemployment and of despair,” he added.
In the first test of his political prowess, Renzi will face a challenge in securing support before a confidence vote in parliament later this week.
The previous coalition of the PD, centrists and the New Centre-Right party is expected to remain intact — despite fears that fresh efforts to pull Italy out of its most serious post-war economic slump risk being thwarted by the same bickering coalition which plagued Letta’s government.
Renzi vowed that if he succeeds, he will implement political and electoral reforms by the end of this month and overhaul the job market, education and the tax system in his first few months in power.
Travelling back to Florence after his nomination, a jubilant Renzi tweeted his enthusiasm for the upcoming challenge, with the hashtag “lavoltabuona” (“This is it”).
Renzi — who would be Italy’s youngest-ever prime minister — has no previous experience in national government or parliament and is seen by many as having the right outsider credentials for the job.
“Renzi brings energy, determination to reform Italy, and communication skills to Rome — as well as a democratic and popular mandate to reform,” said chief Unicredit economist Erik Nielsen.
But Renzi’s critics warn he risks failing to pull together a credible coalition cabinet and his power grab sparked accusations of self-serving arrogance.
“Aiming high, bringing real change to the country, is the only way Renzi will be forgiven for the breach that brought him to power,” political watcher Luca Ricolfi said in La Stampa daily.
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