Posted on 04/23/2005 7:09:21 AM PDT by el_doctor2
ROME (Reuters) - Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi put together a new coalition government on Saturday, ending weeks of political turmoil that aroused fears of economic instability in Italy.
The center-right cabinet will be sworn into office later on Saturday and will have barely a year to try to relaunch the stagnant economy before general elections scheduled for May 2006.
Berlusconi told reporters that his government team included new communications, health, industry and culture ministers, while the main portfolios, including the economy, foreign and interior ministries, remained unchanged.
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 cabinet but have warned that it must be seen to do more for poorer voters, especially in the underdeveloped south.
The prime minister was livid at being forced to quit and has emerged from the crisis with his authority severely dented.
He has promised his allies that the new team will focus on boosting industry, increasing employment in the poorer south and protecting the purchasing power of Italian families.
However, his cash-strapped government will struggle to find fresh funds to finance any meaningful new projects.
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.
TREMONTI RETURNS
There is also no guarantee that the new government will enjoy any greater political stability than the previous administration as the various coalition parties jockey for position and prominence ahead of the 2006 elections.
Looking to revive the flagging fortunes of his own Forza Italia (Go Italy) party, Berlusconi has brought his feisty former economy minister, Giulio Tremonti, back into the cabinet as one of two deputy prime ministers.
That is bound to create tensions as the men who forced Tremonti to quit last July in a row over economic policy will be seated around the same cabinet table.
Tremonti also has reportedly extremely frosty relations with his successor at the economy ministry, Domenico Siniscalco, who remains in his post.
Among the winners on Saturday was the UDC's Rocco Buttiglione, who switches from being minister for European Affairs to the more prestigious culture minister.
Buttiglione was forced to drop his bid to become a European Commissioner last years after saying homosexuals were sinners.
Center-left opposition parties dismissed the new cabinet as a tired reworking of the last administration, which governed Italy for four years that were marked by low economic growth.
"This is just a rancid second course dish that has been reheated," said former anti-graft magistrate Antonio Di Pietro, who is a prominent center-left politician.
"Sadly, the country will have to live through more months of incertainty and economic asphyxiation," he told Ansa newsagency.
The government will have to undergo a vote of confidence in parliament in the coming week, but that should be a formality.
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However, his cash-strapped government will struggle to find fresh funds to finance any meaningful new projects.
Perhaps he really wants to help the economy, instead of launching new government projects.
Glad to see Rocco Buttiglione prospering.
For a look at Dr. Buttiglione's "shocking attitudes", as seen by his enemies, see:
http://www.ilga.org/news_results.asp?LanguageID=1&FileID=361&ZoneID=4&FileCategory=1
Berlusconi has only one year to give again confidence to Italians, otherwise it will be the same thing that in Spain the socialists will win. In Europe we have lost Aznar and if we lost Berlusconi we are finished.
You sound discouraged. But the French wariness of the EU constitution could be signs of a reversal.
Yes I know, the french "NO" will be something new, like a hope, but I am waiting the may 29th in the evening, and when I will hear the "no" will win, I will be relieve, because I am always afraid that French government finds something to rig the results. Do you know the "no" is about 62 %. And I learned the evening that the Netherlands will vote June the first and the "no" is about 52% in this country.
Sadly, Europa is already finished, imho.
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