Italy chooses stopgap PM
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Your support makes all the difference.Oscar Scalfaro, the Italian President, broke more than three weeks of political deadlock yesterday by asking Lamberto Dini, the outgoing Treasury Minister, to form a new government made up of technocrats and charged with carrying out essential eco nomic and electoral reforms.
The nomination of Mr Dini, 63, a career central banker known for his austere, no-nonsense approach, won a cautious welcome from all political parties and delighted the financial markets which began buying lire and Italian shares again after days of frantic selling.
His administration is likely to be a stopgap rather than a durable alternative to Silvio Berlusconi, the flamboyant media mogul forced to resign last month following the acrimonious collapse of his right-wing coalition after seven months.
"Mine will be a government made up of technocrats," Mr Dini said in a brief statement accepting the nomination. "Our task will be to contribute to a sense of absolute confidence in the stability of this country's democratic and republican institutions. Ialso hope to encourage an easing of political tension." He listed three areas of essential reform: economic austerity, in particular a new budget to tackle the growing mountain of national debt; controls on media ownership to stop Mr Berlusconi or anyone else dominating the airwaves; and electoral reform, to correct the shortcomings that made Mr Berlusconi's administration so unstable.
Mr Dini said he would not hold consultations on the make-up of his government but would select ministers like himself, independent of political parties and "selected solely on the basis of their professionalism and abilities".
Italy's star anti-corruption magistrate, Antonio di Pietro, who resigned last month, could be asked to take on the interior or justice ministry It was not clear how much support Mr Dini could hope for in parliament. Both left and right said they supported his nomination in principle, but had reservations about parts of his programme.
Mr Berlusconi repeated his demand for elections as soon as possible, saying that only a poll could justify the creation of a technocratic administration. The leader of the reformed neo-Fascist National Alliance, Gianfranco Fini, said he would start his election campaign immediately. The left said that only a mandate of 18 months or more would give Mr Dini the time he needed to carry out his programme.
Dini faces rough ride, page 10
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