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Meet the key figures in Italy’s new government

Italy's new government line-up brings a few fresh faces to some of its key seats while retaining most political figures from the previous cabinet in a bid to ensure political stability.

Published: 13 December 2016 08:58 CET
Updated: 13 December 2016 13:59 CET
Meet the key figures in Italy's new government
The new cabinet. Photo: AFP

Here are some of those from the centre left-right coalition tasked with key roles in managing a potential banking crisis in the eurozone's third largest economy as well as reforming a key electoral law.

Paolo Gentiloni, prime minister


Photo: AFP

A trusted ally of his predecessor Matteo Renzi. This silver-haired former foreign minister, 62, is a former student radical who comes from a well-to-do Roman family with aristocratic roots.

He is widely seen as having done a good job as foreign minister as Italy has played an unusually proactive role on the world stage, notably in relation to Libya, and in building bridges with Iran after the lifting of international sanctions.

PROFILE: Paolo Gentiloni, a former radical, journalist and 'workaholic'

Angelino Alfano, foreign minister


Photo: AFP

He was interior minister and deputy prime minister under Renzi, and heads up the New Centre Right (NCD) party, the government's coalition partner.

Born in 1970, he was the right-hand man to billionaire former PM Silvio Berlusconi for many years. He made his name as the architect of a law intended to shield Berlusconi from prosecution, but broke all ties with the media magnate in 2013.

Pier Carlo Padoan, finance minister


Photo: AFP

A former chief economist at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the 66-year old also served as the Italian executive director at the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

As finance minister under Renzi, he has been working flat out on a plan to save Italy's third-biggest bank, troubled lender Monte dei Paschi di Siena (BMPS), should it fail to raise the necessary funds to stay afloat. His reappointment is likely to soothe investors worried about contagion.

READ MORE: Here's what you need to know about Italy's banking crisis

Marco Minniti, interior minister

Interior Minister Marco Minniti (R) and Justice Minister Andrea Orlando. Photo: AFP

The 60-year old was the state secretary with responsibility for the security services in the outgoing administration and the one before that. He was deputy interior minister in the Romano Prodi government of 2006 to 2008.

Andrea Orlando, justice minister

The 47-year old, who does not have a university degree, held the post of environment minister under Enrico Letta (2013 to 2014).

When he was appointed justice minister by Renzi, Italian media reports said he was chosen as part of a deal made between Renzi and Berlusconi, because he presented little threat to the media magnate, whose legal troubles were hindering his political career.

Roberta Pinotti, defence minister


Photo: AFP

The 55-year-old former schoolteacher, who stays on in defence, was the first woman to hold the position of president of the Defence Commission in the lower house of parliament.

Valeria Fedeli, education minister


Photo: AFP

The 67-year old is a former trade unionist and deputy speaker in the senate who has campaigned hard to fight violence against women.

Maria Elena Boschi, undersecretary to the PM


Photo: AFP

Boschi was the minister in charge of constitutional reforms under Renzi, and therefore of the very reform that was put to a referendum, and led to his downfall.

The 35-year old is a die-hard Renzi ally and is expected to ensure the former PM's voice is still heard in the new administration.

READ MORE: Start spreading the news – we haven't seen the last of Matteo Renzi

 

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POLITICS

Italy’s Liguria regional president arrested in corruption probe

The president of Italy's northwest Liguria region and the ex-head of Genoa's port were among 10 arrested on Tuesday in a sweeping anti-corruption investigation which also targeted officials for alleged mafia ties.

Published: 7 May 2024 12:52 CEST
Italy's Liguria regional president arrested in corruption probe

Liguria President Giovanni Toti, a right-wing former MEP who was close to late prime minister Silvio Berlusconi but is no longer party aligned, was placed under house arrest, Genoa prosecutors said in a statement.

The 55-year-old is accused of having accepted 74,100 euros in funds for his election campaign between December 2021 and March 2023 from prominent local businessmen, Aldo Spinelli and his son Roberto Spinelli, in return for various favours.

These allegedly included seeking to privatise a public beach and speeding up the renewal for 30 years of the lease of a Genoa port terminal to a Spinelli family-controlled company, which was approved in December 2021.

A total of 10 people were targeted in the probe, also including Paolo Emilio Signorini, who stepped down last year as head of the Genoa Port Authority, one of the largest in Italy. He was being held in jail on Tuesday.

He is accused of having accepted from Aldo Spinelli benefits including cash, 22 stays in a luxury hotel in Monte Carlo – complete with casino chips, massages and beauty treatments – and luxury items including a 7,200-euro Cartier bracelet.

The ex-port boss, who went on to lead energy group Iren, was also promised a 300,000-euro-a-year job when his tenure expires, prosecutors said.

In return, Signorini was said to have granted Aldo Spinelli favours including also working to speed up the renewal of the family’s port concession.

The Spinellis are themselves accused of corruption, with Aldo – an ex-president of the Genoa and Livorno football clubs – placed under house arrest and his son Roberto temporarily banned from conducting business dealings.

In a separate strand of the investigation, Toti’s chief of staff, Matteo Cozzani, was placed under house arrest accused of “electoral corruption” which facilitated the activities of Sicily’s Cosa Nostra Mafia.

As regional coordinator during local elections in 2020, he was accused of promising jobs and public housing in return for the votes of at least 400 Sicilian residents of Genoa.

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