Italy’s political crisis seems to be close to an end as President Sergio Mattarella has given prime-minister designate Giuseppe Conte a second government mandate after Sunday’s rejection of his proposed cabinet.
Conte has already presented his list of ministers and is set to be sworn in on Friday afternoon.
After 88 days of impasses and negotiations, two Italian populist parties with a history of antagonism toward the European Union received approval Thursday night to create a government that has unsettled Europe’s political order and promises a sweeping crackdown on the illegal immigration that helped fuel their ascent.
On Thursday, the populists reshuffled, keeping the same prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, and other top players, but moving the objectionable finance minister to a less critical post.
That was apparently enough to satisfy the president, who preferred an elected government to a caretaker alternative he had in reserve. The populist parties constituting the new government won the most votes in a March 4 election.
But the president’s assent was not enough to allay concerns about the actual agenda of the populists once they enter power, even though they now claim a sudden conversion to full faith in the euro.
