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Berlusconi returns to power with new govt
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-04-24 10:59
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi resolved a bruising row with his
coalition partners on Saturday and named a new government tasked with reviving
the sluggish economy ahead of next year's general election.
Italian Prime Minister Silvio
Berlusconi arrives to read a new list of government ministers who will be
sworn into office at Quirinale Presidential Palace in Rome April 23, 2005.
[Reuters] |
The cabinet was sworn in at
a swift ceremony at the Quirinale presidential palace that stood in stark
contrast to 2001 when Berlusconi's initial team took the oath of office amidst
much backslapping and applause.
Center-left opposition politicians said the new government, put together in
just three days, was a carbon copy of the old administration and would be
incapable of confronting the economic and social problems besieging Italy.
But coalition allies said the cabinet represented a break with the past, and
promised that it would focus its efforts on boosting industry, increasing
employment in the poorer south and protecting the purchasing power of Italian
families.
Saturday's overhaul saw the appointment of new health, communications,
industry and culture ministers.
It also marked a return to front line politics for Berlusconi's long time
ally, Giulio Tremonti, who was named deputy prime minister just 10 months after
being ousted as economy minister during ferocious coalition feuding.
Berlusconi was forced to step down last week by two allies who demanded
radical strategy changes after the center right suffered a crushing defeat in
April regional elections.
Both the rebel parties, the National Alliance (AN) and the Union of Christian
Democrats (UDC), have returned to the new government after winning assurances
that it would address the problems of the south, where unemployment is 16
percent.
The prime minister was livid at being forced to quit and has emerged from the
crisis with his authority dented. However, he has at least managed to stave off
the threat of a snap election which opinion polls had predicted he would lose.
NO MONEY
Berlusconi's political woes have grown out of Italy's economic troubles.
Latest data suggest the economy fell into recession in the first quarter of
2005, the trade deficit is climbing and business confidence is at a 20-month
low.
However, Berlusconi's government will struggle to find fresh funds to finance
any meaningful new projects ahead of the parliamentary election, which must take
place by May 2006.
The European Union has already warned Italy that it risks breaking budget
deficit rules in 2005 and put Berlusconi on guard not to try to spend his way
out of trouble.
There is also no guarantee that the new administration will enjoy any greater
political stability than its predecessor as the various coalition parties jockey
for prominence in the runup to the 2006 election.
The return of Tremonti could also cause tensions. He holds foreign minister
Gianfranco Fini largely responsible for his demise as economy minister and
reportedly has frosty relations with his successor at the Treasury -- Domenico
Siniscalco.
Junior coalition party the Northern League emerged unscathed from the
turmoil, keeping all its cabinet posts despite complaints from the AN and UDC
that it had too prominent a role given its limited electoral weight.
The UDC by contrast lost one of its four cabinet posts and although the AN
gained a seat, taking over the high-profile Health Ministry, the reshuffle has
revealed deep fissures at the heart of the rightist party.
"This is just a rancid second-course dish that has been reheated," said
former anti-corruption magistrate Antonio Di Pietro, who is a prominent
center-left politician.
The government will have to win a vote of confidence in parliament next week,
but that should be a formality.
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