government formation
Italy: rights to talks with the head of state
“Want to move forward as quickly as possible”: Giorgia Meloni, leader of the far-right party Fratelli d’Italia (Brothers of Italy): photo
© Oliver Weiken/dpa
It was a very brief meeting at Mattarella. The candidate for the presidency of the government, Giorgia Meloni, has asked the president to give her a mandate to form a government. How does the head of state decide?
On the second day of formal deliberations on forming a government in Italy, Head of State Sergio Mattarella received the leaders of the right-wing parties at his official residence.
In the morning, the candidate for the presidency of the government, Giorgia Meloni, along with representatives of her right-wing party Fratelli d’Italia, came to the Quirinale Palace, as can be seen on live images. Ex-Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi with members of his Forza Italia and Matteo Salvini with politicians from his right-wing populist League were also present.
After about ten minutes the meeting was already over. Surrounded by Berlusconi and Salvini, Meloni told media representatives that Mattarella had been proposed to form a new government under her. “We are already announcing that we are ready because we want to move forward as quickly as possible,” continued the 45-year-old.
Mattarella held talks on Thursday with the left-wing populist Five Star Movement, the Social Democrats and other smaller factions. Some party representatives then told journalists that they expressed their concern about an upcoming right-wing government to the 81-year-old. The head of state learns from the meetings where the parties stand. In the end, he assigns someone to form a government and swears in this person and their cabinet.
After the election at the end of September, the right-wing parties, with Meloni as the winner, have an absolute majority in both chambers of parliament. Observers expect that Meloni will be given the task of forming a government and will be sworn in with her cabinet at the weekend. However, there was no official timetable for this on Friday morning.