Elisabeth Borne refused to comment on the results of the Italian elections on Monday morning, hiding behind the fact that Giorgia Meloni had not yet been appointed Prime Minister.
Nevertheless: the far-right coalition led by the leader of the Fratelli d'Italia party largely won Sunday's legislative elections.
Except that in Italy, the path leading to the appointment of the head or head of government can be tortuous and drag on.
In the past, this process has taken between just under four and twelve weeks.
In general, the clearer the result of the ballot, the shorter the delay, even if certain stages are incompressible.
It is already certain that Italy will be represented by resigning Prime Minister Mario Draghi at the informal summit of Heads of State and Government of the European Union in Prague on October 7.
Moving forward, here are the next steps in the political process ahead.
Official results expected on Monday
The Ministry of the Interior publishes on its website the official results of the counting of the ballots as they arrive and the final result (or almost) should be known Monday during the day.
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The elect meet
The newly elected members of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies must, according to the Constitution, meet within 20 days after the holding of the elections, i.e. October 15 at the latest.
At their first plenary meeting, they must elect their respective presidents and only then does the process of appointing the government begin.
President begins consultations
In Italy, the political tradition is that the President of the Republic begins consultations on the appointment of the new head of government by the presidents of the two chambers, followed by the leaders of the main parties and possibly the leaders of the parliamentary groups.
If the election result is clear, these consultations are brief - around two days - but if not, they can last up to a week, after which the Head of State mandates a personality to form a new government.
The latter accepts the mandate "with reservations", begins negotiations with its allies concerning ministerial posts and the program.
At the end of these negotiations, if all goes well, the prospective candidate goes to the president and “raises his reservation”.
And finally, the government
The new government is then announced immediately and is sworn in before the President of the Republic the same day or the next day at the latest, after which it goes to Palazzo Chigi, the seat of the executive, for the transfer of power with the outgoing government.
Two records have been recorded in recent history: Silvio Berlusconi only needed 24 days in 2008 to move into Palazzo Chigi, while it took no less than 89 days for Giuseppe Conte in 2018 to complete the same journey .
