The Deputy Prime Minister of Italy, officially Vice-President of the Council of Ministers of the Italian Republic (

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

: ''Vicepresidente del Consiglio dei ministri della Repubblica Italiana''), is a senior member of the Italian Cabinet. Moreover, it is often colloquially known as ''Vicepremier''. The office of the Deputy Prime Minister is not a permanent position, existing only at the discretion of the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

, who may appoint to other offices to give seniority to a particular Cabinet minister. The office is currently held by

Matteo Salvini Matteo Salvini (; born 9 March 1973) is an Italian politician who has served as Deputy Prime Minister of Italy and Italian Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Minister of Infrastructure and Transport since 2022. He has been List of Federal ...

and

Antonio Tajani Antonio Tajani (; born 4 August 1953) is an Italian politician, journalist and former Italian Air Force officer, who has served as Deputy Prime Minister of Italy and Minister of Foreign Affairs since 22 October 2022. He served as President of the ...

under

Giorgia Meloni Giorgia Meloni (; born 15 January 1977) is an Italian politician who has been serving as the Prime Minister of Italy since 22 October 2022, the first woman to hold this position. A member of the Chamber of Deputies since 2006, she has led the ...

's premiership. Though they will always have particular responsibilities in government, the Italian

deputy prime minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

, unlike analogous offices in some other nations, such as a vice-presidency, possesses no special constitutional powers as such, as their powers are solely defined by ordinary law, more specifically, by article 8 of law 400/1998 (

: ''legge 400/1998''), The Deputy Prime Minister (the oldest one in case the office is held by multiple people at once) assumes the duties and powers of the Prime Minister in the latter's absence, illness, or death. In case none was appointed Deputy Prime Minister, it's the oldest Minister who takes the role of the Prime Minister in case the in the latter's absence, illness, or death. The Deputy Prime Minister does not automatically succeed the Prime Minister in case the latter resigns, as conventionally, in the aftermath of a resignation, the outgoing Prime Minister remains in place to handle day-to-day business until Parliament picks a successor. In practice, the designation of someone to the role of Deputy Prime Minister may also provide additional practical status within cabinet, enabling the exercise of ''

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

'', if not ''

de jure In law and government, ''de jure'' ( ; , "by law") describes practices that are legally recognized, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. In contrast, ("in fact") describes situations that exist in reality, even if not legally ...

'', power. In a coalition government, as

Enrico Letta Enrico Letta (; born 20 August 1966) is an Italian politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy from April 2013 to February 2014, leading a grand coalition of centre-left and centre-right parties. Since March 2021, Letta has been secretary ...

Grand coalition A grand coalition is an arrangement in a multi-party parliamentary system in which the two largest political parties of opposing political ideologies unite in a coalition government. The term is most commonly used in countries where there are t ...

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

between the Democrats and

The People of Freedom The People of Freedom ( it, Il Popolo della Libertà, PdL) was a centre-right political party in Italy. The PdL, launched by Silvio Berlusconi on 18 November 2007, was initially a federation of political parties, notably including Forza Italia a ...

, the appointment of the secretary of the smaller party (in the 2014 case,

Angelino Alfano Angelino Alfano (; born 31 October 1970) is an Italian former politician who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 12 December 2016 to 1 June 2018. Alfano was Minister of the Interior from 28 April 2013 to 12 December 2016, serving in the g ...

, secretary of the PdL) as Deputy Prime Minister is done to give that person more authority within the cabinet to enforce the coalition's agreed-upon agenda.Vice-Presidente del Consiglio – Angelino Alfano
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List of deputy prime ministers

Kingdom of Italy

; Parties: *1944–1946: ** ** ** ** ;Coalitions: * **

Italian Republic

; Parties: *1946–1994: ** ** ** ** ** *1994–present: ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ;Coalitions: * ** ** ** ** * ** ** **

Timeline

References

{{Authority control Politics of Italy 1947 establishments in Italy

List of deputy prime ministers

Kingdom of Italy

Italian Republic

Timeline

See also

References