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Italy forms cabinet of technocrats

16/11/2011 16:33
Mario Monti will serve as both prime minister and finance minister in Italy’s caretaker government of technocrats which also includes Corrado Passera, head of bank Intesa SanPaolo, in the key post of minister for economic development and infrastructure.

Mr Monti, former European competition commissioner, presented his cabinet list at Rome’s Quirinale palace after formally accepting the mandate to form a government which will be made up exclusively of un-elected technocrats after the main political parties refused to take up cabinet posts on offer.

Mr Monti said the main political parties had expressed a clear preference to support the government without taking part in it. He said he reached the conclusion after two days of talks with party leaders that the absence of politicians in the cabinet would “ease” the work of government rather than present an obstacle.

“The strength of a government depends on the capacity to act incisively and explaining to citizens and parliament the meaning and scope of its actions,” Mr Monti said.

Silvio Berlusconi resigned as prime minister on Saturday night having lost his majority in parliament amid a collapse of confidence in Italy’s sovereign debt on bond markets.

The new slimmed down team includes three women and is dominated by academics and civil servants. They are to be sworn in later on Wednesday.

Mr Monti, appointed last week as senator for life, said he would present his economic programme to the senate on Thursday. He gave no details of his plans. The government must then pass the first hurdle of obtaining votes of confidence in both houses of parliament, expected to take place by the end of the week.

Mr Monti said he had decided to join the two ministries of economic development and infrastructure under Mr Passera to emphasise the need for coordinated policy on economic growth.

He said he hoped his government would restore market confidence in Italy and calm a tense political atmosphere in the country.

With public opinion swinging behind Mr Monti despite the prospect of painful economic retrenchment, polls show his rankings soaring above those of Mr Berlusconi and Pierluigi Bersani, leader of the centre-left Democrats.

The Piepoli institute said 53 per cent of Italians want a technical government while 22 per cent were in favour of early elections and only 4 per cent for a continuation of Mr Berlusconi’s administration.

Mr Berlusconi’s party remains the largest in both chambers of parliament, although it is clearly split over the U-turn he made last week in giving up calls for early elections. Nonetheless, the ex-prime minister’s reported warning that he would be ready to “pull the plug” on Mr Monti reveals how difficult it will be for the former European commissioner to impose a wealth tax to fund an expected budget deficit of €25bn ($34bn) next year.