Romano Prodi was sworn in on Wednesday as prime minister, along with his 25-member Cabinet, whose selection was calibrated to reflect the demands of the nine diverse center-left parties that support him.
At a time when Italy faces difficult economic problems, and will need political compromises to overcome them, the parsing of seats was complicated. At least one party leader threatened to quit if he did not get a top job, a potentially fatal danger to Prodi's government, considering his thin majority.
But on Wednesday Prodi appeared with a beaming smile in the Quirinale Palace in front of the new president, Giorgio Napolitano, to be sworn in.
"There is a great desire for a new start, combined with a desire for cohesion and unity," he told reporters earlier in the day, after the Cabinet had been announced.
Prodi said his government would last the full five-year term. Italy has had more than 60 governments since World War II, and the only prime minister to maintain his government for a full term was Silvio Berlusconi, whom Prodi defeated in close national elections last month. Berlusconi and his new center-right opposition have vowed to bring down the government as quickly as possible.
Prodi's selection for the most important post, Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa as finance minister, won wide praise among economists at a time when credit rating agencies are pushing Italy to make difficult reforms. A former board member at the European Central Bank, he is considered a technocrat without strong party affiliations.
Elsewhere, however, the Cabinet is dominated by members of the two largest center-left parties: the Democrats of the Left and the Daisy Party, whose leading representatives were named deputy prime ministers. One, Massimo D'Alema, of the Democrats of the Left, was also named foreign minister; the other, Francesco Rutelli, of the Daisy Party, was also named culture minister.
Two people close to Prodi, who does not have a party of his own to fall back on, were named to major positions: Giuliano Amato, a former prime minister whom Prodi had backed for president, is minister of the interior, and Arturo Parisi, of the Daisy Party, is defense minister.
Clemente Mastella, leader of the Democratic Union for Europe, was named minister of justice, after threatening to leave government if he did not receive a top position. He is a conservative, and there was speculation that his appointment could complicate any drive to recognize same-sex unions.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in