Leading article: Italy - undemocratic, but necessary

The speed with which Mario Monti has formed a new government of technocrats in Italy is a tribute to his skills as a man of public affairs. But it is also a reflection of the difficulties Italy now finds itself in. Far from the markets being reassured by Mr Monti's appointment at the weekend, they have got progressively worse.

The consequence has been the high-speed construction of an administration which has simply by-passed the traditional route of knocking party heads together to form a coalition. Instead Mr Monti, a respected economist and former European commissioner, has appointed himself to take on the economy and finance role and brought in a series of specialist outsiders to take on other portfolios, including the chief executive of the Intesa Sanpaolo bank, Corrado Passera, to head a new ministry of development, infrastructure and transport.

To say this is "undemocratic" rather misses the point. The Italian public as much as the markets have lost faith (have long lost faith indeed) in the factional and corrupt way that parliament runs its affairs in Rome. The financial crisis has brought matters to a head.

One reason why the new government had to be formed in this way was because party politics would not have allowed a quick solution in any other form. A lot of Italians, the majority even, will welcome a period of technocratic rule as long as it seems effective in dealing with the country's economic problems and restores the faith of the markets. That may not be easy, however. While politicians are out of the cabinet they are not out of the picture. The new administration still faces confidence votes in both houses today and tomorrow. The powerful Northern League has withheld its endorsement, and the deposed Silvio Berlusconi, still head of his party, waits in the wings, watching and hoping for the government to fail.

Nor, on this week's showing, will the markets be easily reassured. Italy's governance is just part of a wider collapse in confidence in the sovereign debt of eurozone countries. It can only be reversed by a clear commitment from euro leaders that, whatever it takes, the euro will be supported. This is still not forthcoming.