Italian Prime Minister to announce new government on February 22

Prime Minister-designate Matteo Renzi will officially announce the list of members of the new government he heads on February 22.

Then, on February 24, he and his cabinet will undergo two confidence votes in the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Mr. Matteo Renzi. (Source: AFP/VNA)

Mr. Renzi will become the youngest prime minister in Italian history, at the age of 39.

On February 19, Mr. Renzi declared that he felt very optimistic about the prospect of forming a new government after more than a day of consultations with different political parties.

On February 18 and 19, Renzi, head of the ruling Democratic Party (Pd) and recently appointed by the Italian President to form a new government, held discussions with the main parties.

He described the meetings as "positive" and "resolved the fundamental problems" in forming a new government.

According to Italian press comments, the key issue in implementing the reforms proposed by Renzi is the need to find a competent economic minister.

Mr Renzi has tried to persuade a number of economists to head the ministry, but without success.

It is not yet clear who will take this position in Mr Renzi's cabinet. Another issue is which parties will form the Pd's coalition in government.

In an interview with the press on February 19, Renzi affirmed that the New Center-Right Party (NCD), consisting of lawmakers who split from former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's opposition Forza Italy party, will support the government.

The NCD was instrumental in keeping Letta's government from falling last year, when Mr Berlusconi tried to pressure the ruling PD into supporting him in his tax fraud conviction.

According to the prestigious daily La Stampa, Renzi's situation when he takes power will be no different from that of the recently resigned Prime Minister Enrico Letta, who also has a precarious majority, with a small number of NCD MPs supporting him. Meanwhile, the Forza Italia party and the 5-Star Movement (M5S) will be the opposition forces.

Berlusconi, leader of Forza Italia, has previously said he supports Renzi's reforms. However, Berlusconi has insisted that he shares some political views with Renzi and wants to hold general elections this year.

Berlusconi was the last person to become Prime Minister directly through popular vote. He resigned in 2011 when Italy was in deep economic crisis. Berlusconi's government was replaced by Monti and Letta's governments, before Renzi's government appeared./.

According to VNA