Meloni, new Prime Minister of Italy

At 10:11 a.m. this Saturday, in the Festival Hall of the Quirinal Palace, the former residence of popes and monarchs before being the seat of the Presidency of the Italian Republic, Giorgia Meloni grabbed the golden fountain pen from the table and stamped her signature in the document that made her the first woman to chair the Italian Council of Ministers.

The leader of the Brothers of Italy, a far-right party that five years ago barely had 4% of the vote and was content with the role of comparsa in the right-wing coalition, will be the head of a conservative executive made up of the three parties that have occupied that spectrum in Italy for two decades.

A government that will have two vice-presidencies called to maintain the balance of forces with Forza Italia and the League and that will be headed by Antonio Tajani and Matteo Salvini,

respectively.

The first among the founding fathers of the European Union, also guided by a far-right party.

Thus begins a new era in Italy.

The only question, considering his volatile history and the convulsive start of this executive, is how long it will last.

Sergio Mattarella received Giorgia Meloni this Saturday at the Quirinal Palace.

DPA via Europa Press (DPA via Europa Press)

The Meloni executive, with a medium profile and without big names in any of the portfolios, paraded before the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, to be sworn in, just as his boss had done before, who stamped his signature before the eyes of his partner, the television journalist Andrea Giambruno and that of Ginevra, his six-year-old daughter.

Some of the new ministers were repeating (the Economy Minister, Giancarlo Giorgetti, was Minister of Economic Development under Mario Draghi) or had already had experience in previous Executives, such as Antonio Tajani (now Foreign Minister) or Matteo Salvini (who was already Vice President and Minister of the Interior in the first government of Giuseppe Conte).

For many others, the situation was new.

Meloni has managed to return the Chigi Palace to the right after 11 years, when Silvio Berlusconi had to abandon it precipitously, leaving Italy on the verge of bankruptcy and with a risk premium at a historical record (she was Minister of Youth).

To do this, she has compiled a list at breakneck speed by Italian standards.

She has done what she could with a party with hardly any ruling class and after the rejection of several prestigious technicians to occupy portfolios such as the Economy (Fabio Panetta, ECB adviser is known).

The two vice presidents of the new government, Matteo Salvini (Liga) and Antonio Tajani (Forza Italia). GUGLIELMO MANGIAPANE (REUTERS)

The situation in Italy, a country highly dependent on Russian gas and with runaway inflation, is complicated.

And on the crucial issues you will not be able to do great experiments.

But the ideology is beginning to be seen in the name that has been given to some ministries such as Family (to which the word "natality" is added), Agriculture (it will be accompanied by the surname "food sovereignty") or Business (which will be linked to the trite concept of “

”).

It gives the impression, however, that in sections such as Economy or Foreign Affairs the line will be exactly the same as that maintained by the Draghi executive.

The profile of the holders of the new portfolios -six women among the 24 holders- will hardly improve the technical capacities of the ministers of the outgoing executive.

However, and this is the great novelty of a democratic nature in Italy, it will be the first government presided over by a candidate who came out of the polls.

The last to achieve that milestone was Silvio Berlusconi in 2008. Nine years after being disqualified for tax fraud,

, 86, has returned to politics and has been about to blow up the new executive with his statements in favor of Putin. and the invasion of Ukraine.

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