The Prime Minister of Italy, officially the President of the Council of Ministers ( it, link=no, Presidente del Consiglio dei Ministri), is the
head of government
The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presides over a cabinet, ...
of the
Italian Republic
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
. The office of president of the Council of Ministers is established by articles 92–96 of the
Constitution of Italy
The Constitution of the Italian Republic ( it, Costituzione della Repubblica Italiana) was enacted by the Constituent Assembly on 22 December 1947, with 453 votes in favour and 62 against. The text, which has since been amended sixteen times, ...
; the president of the Council of Ministers is appointed by the
president of the Republic and must have the confidence of the
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
to stay in office.
Prior to the establishment of the Italian Republic, the position was called President of the Council of Ministers of the Kingdom of Italy (''Presidente del Consiglio dei ministri del Regno d'Italia''). From 1925 to 1943 during the
Fascist regime
Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...
, the position was transformed into the
dictatorial
A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a small clique. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in times ...
position of Head of the Government, Prime Minister Secretary of State (''Capo del Governo, Primo Ministro Segretario di Stato'') held by
Benito Mussolini,
Duce
( , ) is an Italian title, derived from the Latin word 'leader', and a cognate of ''duke''. National Fascist Party leader Benito Mussolini was identified by Fascists as ('The Leader') of the movement since the birth of the in 1919. In 192 ...
of Fascism, who officially governed on the behalf of the
king of Italy
King of Italy ( it, links=no, Re d'Italia; la, links=no, Rex Italiae) was the title given to the ruler of the Kingdom of Italy after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The first to take the title was Odoacer, a barbarian military leader ...
. King
Victor Emmanuel III
The name Victor or Viktor may refer to:
* Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname
Arts and entertainment
Film
* ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film
* ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...
removed Mussolini from office in 1943 and the position was restored with
Marshal Pietro Badoglio
Pietro Badoglio, 1st Duke of Addis Abeba, 1st Marquess of Sabotino (, ; 28 September 1871 – 1 November 1956), was an Italian general during both World Wars and the first viceroy of Italian East Africa. With the fall of the Fascist regime ...
becoming prime minister in 1943, although the original denomination of President of the Council was only restored in 1944, when
Ivanoe Bonomi
Ivanoe Bonomi (18 October 1873 – 20 April 1951) was an Italian politician and journalist who served as Prime Minister of Italy from 1921 to 1922 and again from 1944 to 1945.
Background and earlier career
Ivanoe Bonomi was born in Mantua, I ...
was appointed to the post of prime minister.
Alcide De Gasperi
Alcide Amedeo Francesco De Gasperi (; 3 April 1881 – 19 August 1954) was an Italian politician who founded the Christian Democracy party and served as prime minister of Italy in eight successive coalition governments from 1945 to 1953.
De Gas ...
became the first prime minister of the Italian Republic in 1946.
The prime minister is the president of the
Council of Ministers
A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/ shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nati ...
which holds executive power and the position is similar to those in most other
parliamentary system
A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of th ...
s. The formal
Italian order of precedence lists the office as being, ceremonially, the fourth-highest Italian state office after the president and the presiding officers of the two houses of parliament.
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 ...
is the incumbent prime minister since 22 October 2022.
Functions
As the president of the
Council of Ministers
A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/ shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nati ...
, the prime minister is required by the
Constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When these princ ...
to have the supreme confidence of the majority of the voting members of the
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
.
In addition to powers inherent in being a member of the Cabinet, the prime minister holds specific powers, most notably being able to nominate a list of Cabinet ministers to be appointed by the president of the Republic and the countersigning of all legislative instruments having the force of law that are signed by the president of the Republic.
Article 95 of the Italian constitution provides that the prime minister "directs and coordinates the activity of the ministers". This power has been used to a quite variable extent in the
history of the Italian state as it is strongly influenced by the political strength of individual ministers and thus by the parties they represent.
The prime minister's activity has often consisted of mediating between the various parties in the majority coalition, rather than directing the activity of the Council of Ministers. The prime minister's supervisory power is further limited by the lack of any formal authority to fire ministers. In the past, in order to make a cabinet reshuffle, prime ministers have sometimes resigned so that they could be re-appointed by the president and allowed to form a new cabinet with new ministers. For this to happen the prime minister requires the support of the president, who could theoretically refuse to re-appoint them following their resignation.
History
The office was first established in 1848 in Italy's predecessor state, the
Kingdom of Sardinia
The Kingdom of Sardinia,The name of the state was originally Latin: , or when the kingdom was still considered to include Corsica. In Italian it is , in French , in Sardinian , and in Piedmontese . also referred to as the Kingdom of Savoy-S ...
—although it was not mentioned in its constitution, the
Albertine Statute
The Statuto Albertino (English: ''Albertine Statute'') was the constitution granted by King Charles Albert of Sardinia to the Kingdom of Sardinia on 4 March 1848 and written in Italian and French. The Statute later became the constitution of ...
. From 1848 to 1861, ten prime ministers governed the Kingdom, most of them being
right-wing politicians.
Historical Right and Historical Left
![Camillo Benso Cavour di Ciseri](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/Camillo_Benso_Cavour_di_Ciseri.jpg)
After the
unification of Italy
The unification of Italy ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century political and social movement that resulted in the consolidation of different states of the Italian Peninsula into a single ...
and the establishment of the
kingdom
Kingdom commonly refers to:
* A monarchy ruled by a king or queen
* Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy
Kingdom may also refer to:
Arts and media Television
* ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...
, the procedure did not change. In fact, the candidate for office was appointed by the
King
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
and presided over a very unstable political system. The first prime minister was
Camillo Benso di Cavour
Camillo Paolo Filippo Giulio Benso, Count of Cavour, Isolabella and Leri (, 10 August 1810 – 6 June 1861), generally known as Cavour ( , ), was an Italian politician, businessman, economist and noble, and a leading figure in the movement t ...
, who was appointed on 23 March 1861, but he died on 6 June the same year. From 1861 to 1911,
Historical Right and
Historical Left
The Left group ( it, Sinistra), later called Historical Left ( it, Sinistra storica) by historians to distinguish it from the left-wing groups of the 20th century, was a liberal and reformist parliamentary group in Italy during the second half of ...
prime ministers alternatively governed the country.
One of the most famous and influential prime ministers of this period was
Francesco Crispi, a left-wing patriot and statesman, the first head of the government from
Southern Italy. He led the country for six years from 1887 until 1891 and again from 1893 until 1896. Crispi was internationally famous and often mentioned along with world statesmen such as
Otto von Bismarck,
William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...
and
Salisbury
Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath.
Salisbury is in the southeast of ...
.
Originally an enlightened Italian patriot and democrat liberal, Crispi went on to become a bellicose authoritarian prime minister, ally and admirer of Bismarck. His career ended amid controversy and failure due to becoming involved in a major banking scandal and subsequently fell from power in 1896 after a devastating colonial defeat in Ethiopia. He is often seen as a precursor of the
fascist dictator
Benito Mussolini.
Giolittian Era
In 1892,
Giovanni Giolitti, a leftist lawyer and politician, was appointed Prime Minister by King
Umberto I
Umberto I ( it, Umberto Rainerio Carlo Emanuele Giovanni Maria Ferdinando Eugenio di Savoia; 14 March 1844 – 29 July 1900) was King of Italy from 9 January 1878 until his assassination on 29 July 1900.
Umberto's reign saw Italy attempt colo ...
, but after less than a year he was forced to resign and Crispi returned to power. In 1903, he was appointed again head of the government after a period of instability. Giolitti was Prime Minister five times between 1892 and 1921 and the
second-longest serving prime minister in Italian history.
Giolitti was a master in the political art of ''
trasformismo
''Trasformismo'' is the method of making a flexible centrist coalition of government which isolated the extremes of the political left and the political right in Italian politics after the Italian unification and before the rise of Benito Mussoli ...
'', the method of making a flexible, fluid centrist coalition in Parliament which sought to isolate the extremes of the
left and the
right
Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical ...
in Italian politics. Under his influence, the
Italian Liberals did not develop as a structured party. They were instead a series of informal personal groupings with no formal links to political constituencies.
The period between the start of the 20th century and the start of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, when he was Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior from 1901 to 1914 with only brief interruptions, is often called the Giolittian Era.
[Barański & West, ]
The Cambridge companion to modern Italian culture
', p. 44[Killinger, ]
The history of Italy
', p. 127–28 A left-wing liberal
with strong ethical concerns, Giolitti's periods in the office were notable for the passage of a wide range of progressive social reforms which improved the living standards of ordinary Italians, together with the enactment of several policies of government intervention.
[Sarti, ]
Italy: a reference guide from the Renaissance to the present
', pp. 46–48
Besides putting in place several
tariff
A tariff is a tax imposed by the government of a country or by a supranational union on imports or exports of goods. Besides being a source of revenue for the government, import duties can also be a form of regulation of foreign trade and pol ...
s, subsidies and government projects, Giolitti also nationalized the private telephone and railroad operators. Liberal proponents of
free trade
Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econ ...
criticized the "Giolittian System", although Giolitti himself saw the development of the national economy as essential in the production of wealth.
Fascist regime
![Mussolini biografia](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/67/Mussolini_biografia.jpg)
The Italian prime minister presided over a very unstable political system as in its first sixty years of existence (1861–1921) Italy changed its head of the government 37 times.
Regarding this situation, the first goal of
Benito Mussolini,
appointed in 1922, was to abolish the Parliament's ability to put him to a
vote of no confidence
A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...
, basing his power on the will of the King and the
National Fascist Party
The National Fascist Party ( it, Partito Nazionale Fascista, PNF) was a political party in Italy, created by Benito Mussolini as the political expression of Italian Fascism and as a reorganization of the previous Italian Fasces of Combat. Th ...
alone. After destroying all political opposition through his secret police and outlawing labor strikes,
[Haugen, pp. 9, 71.] Mussolini and his
Fascist followers consolidated their power through a series of laws that transformed the nation into a
one-party dictatorship. Within five years, he had established dictatorial authority by both legal and extraordinary means, aspiring to create a totalitarian state. In 1925 the title of "President of the Council of Ministers" was changed into "Head of the Govermnent, Prime Minister Secretery of State", symbolizing the new dictatorial powers of Mussolini.
Mussolini remained in power until he was deposed by
King Victor Emmanuel III
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
in 1943 following a vote of no confidence by the
Grand Council of Fascism
The Grand Council of Fascism (, also translated "Fascist Grand Council") was the main body of Mussolini's Fascist government in Italy, that held and applied great power to control the institutions of government. It was created as a body of th ...
and replaced by General
Pietro Badoglio
Pietro Badoglio, 1st Duke of Addis Abeba, 1st Marquess of Sabotino (, ; 28 September 1871 – 1 November 1956), was an Italian general during both World Wars and the first viceroy of Italian East Africa. With the fall of the Fascist regime ...
. A few months later,
Italy was invaded by Nazi Germany and Mussolini was reinstated as head of a puppet State called
Italian Social Republic, while the authorities of the Kingdom were forced to relocate in
Southern Italy, which was under the control of the Allied Forces.
In 1944 Badoglio resigned and
Ivanoe Bonomi
Ivanoe Bonomi (18 October 1873 – 20 April 1951) was an Italian politician and journalist who served as Prime Minister of Italy from 1921 to 1922 and again from 1944 to 1945.
Background and earlier career
Ivanoe Bonomi was born in Mantua, I ...
was appointed to the post of Prime Minister, restoring the old title of "President of the Council of Ministers. Bonomi was briefly succeeded by
Ferruccio Parri
Ferruccio Parri (; Pinerolo, 19 January 1890 – Rome, 8 December 1981) was an Italian partisan and anti-fascist politician who served as the 29th Prime Minister of Italy, and the first to be appointed after the end of World War II. During the w ...
in 1945 and then by
Alcide de Gasperi
Alcide Amedeo Francesco De Gasperi (; 3 April 1881 – 19 August 1954) was an Italian politician who founded the Christian Democracy party and served as prime minister of Italy in eight successive coalition governments from 1945 to 1953.
De Gas ...
, leader of the newly formed
Christian Democracy (''Democrazia Cristiana'', DC) political party.
First decades of the Italian Republic
Following the
1946 Italian institutional referendum
An institutional referendum ( it, referendum istituzionale, or ) was held in Italy on 2 June 1946, Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1047 a key event of Italian contemporary history.
Until 194 ...
, the monarchy was abolished and De Gasperi became the first Prime Minister of the Italian Republic. The First Republic was dominated by the Christian Democracy which was the senior party in each government coalitions from 1946 to 1994 while the opposition was led by the
Italian Communist Party
The Italian Communist Party ( it, Partito Comunista Italiano, PCI) was a communist political party in Italy.
The PCI was founded as ''Communist Party of Italy'' on 21 January 1921 in Livorno by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) ...
(PCI), the largest one in Western Europe.
![Alcide de Gasperi 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/Alcide_de_Gasperi_2.jpg)
In the first years of the Republic, the governments were led by De Gasperi, who is also considered a founding father of the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
.
After the death of De Gasperi, Italy returned in a period of political instability and a lot of cabinets were formed in few decades. The second part of the 20th century was dominated by De Gasperi's protégé
Giulio Andreotti, who was appointed Prime Minister seven times from 1972 to 1992.
From the late 1960s until the early 1980s, the country experienced the
Years of Lead, a period characterised by economic crisis (especially after the
1973 oil crisis), widespread social conflicts and terrorist massacres carried out by opposing extremist groups, with the alleged involvement of United States and Soviet intelligence.
[ ] The Years of Lead culminated in the assassination of the Christian Democrat leader
Aldo Moro
Aldo Romeo Luigi Moro (; 23 September 1916 – 9 May 1978) was an Italian statesman and a prominent member of the Christian Democracy (DC). He served as prime minister of Italy from December 1963 to June 1968 and then from November 1974 to July 1 ...
in 1978 and the
Bologna railway station massacre in 1980, where 85 people died.
In the 1980s, for the first time since 1945 two governments were led by non-Christian Democrat prime ministers: one
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
(
Giovanni Spadolini) and one
Socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...
(
Bettino Craxi
Benedetto "Bettino" Craxi ( , , ; 24 February 1934 – 19 January 2000) was an Italian politician, leader of the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) from 1976 to 1993, and the 45th prime minister of Italy from 1983 to 1987. He was the first PSI membe ...
). However, the Christian Democrats remained the main government party. During Craxi's government, the economy recovered and Italy became the world's fifth-largest industrial nation, gaining entry into the
Group of Seven
The Group of Seven (G7) is an intergovernmental political forum consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States; additionally, the European Union (EU) is a "non-enumerated member". It is officiall ...
, but as a result of his spending policies, the Italian national debt skyrocketed during the Craxi era, soon passing 100% of the GDP.
In the early 1990s, Italy faced significant challenges as voters—disenchanted with political paralysis, massive public debt and the extensive corruption system (known as ''
Tangentopoli
''Mani pulite'' (; Italian for "clean hands") was a nationwide judicial investigation into political corruption in Italy held in the early 1990s, resulting in the demise of the so-called " First Republic" and the disappearance of many Italia ...
'') uncovered by the "
Clean Hands
Clean hands, sometimes called the clean hands doctrine, unclean hands doctrine, or dirty hands doctrine, is an equitable defense in which the defendant argues that the plaintiff is not entitled to obtain an equitable remedy because the plaintif ...
" (''mani pulite'') investigation—demanded radical reforms. The scandals involved all major parties, but especially those in the government coalition: the Christian Democrats, who ruled for almost 50 years, underwent a severe crisis and eventually disbanded, splitting up into several factions. Moreover, the Communist Party was reorganised as a social-democratic force, the
Democratic Party of the Left
The Democratic Party of the Left ( it, Partito Democratico della Sinistra, PDS) was a democratic socialist and social-democratic political party in Italy. Founded in February 1991 as the post-communist evolution of the Italian Communist Party, t ...
.
The "Second Republic"
![Silvio Berlusconi (2010) cropped](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Silvio_Berlusconi_%282010%29_cropped.jpg)
In the midst of the ''mani pulite'' operation which shook political parties in 1994, media magnate
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies f ...
, owner of three private TV channels, founded
Forza Italia (Forward Italy) party and won the elections, becoming one of Italy's most important political and economic figures for the next decade. Berlusconi is also the longest-serving prime minister in the history of the Italian Republic and the third-longest serving in the whole history after Mussolini and Giolitti.
Ousted after a few months of government, Berlusconi returned to power in 2001, lost the
2006 general election five years later to
Romano Prodi
Romano Antonio Prodi (; born 9 August 1939) is an Italian politician, economist, academic, senior civil servant, and business executive who served as the tenth president of the European Commission from 1999 to 2004. He served twice as Pr ...
and his
Union
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''Un ...
coalition, but won the
2008 general election and was elected Prime Minister for the third time in May 2008. In November 2011, Berlusconi lost his majority in the Chamber of Deputies and resigned. His successor,
Mario Monti, formed a new government, composed of "technicians" and supported by both the center-left and the center-right. In April 2013, after the
general election in February, the Vice Secretary of the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
(PD)
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 ...
led a
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 ...
composed by both center-left and the center-right.
On 22 February 2014, after tensions in the Democratic Party the PD's Secretary
Matteo Renzi
Matteo Renzi (; born 11 January 1975) is an Italian politician who served as prime minister of Italy from 2014 to 2016. He has been a senator for Florence since 2018. Renzi has served as the leader of Italia Viva (IV) since 2019, having bee ...
was sworn in as the new prime minister. Renzi proposed several reforms, including a radical overhaul of the
Senate and a new electoral law. However, the proposed reforms were rejected on 4 December 2016 by a
referendum
A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...
. Following the referendum's results, Renzi resigned and his Foreign Affairs Minister
Paolo Gentiloni
Paolo Gentiloni Silveri (; born 22 November 1954) is an Italian politician who has served as European Commissioner for Economy in the von der Leyen Commission since 1 December 2019. He previously served as prime minister of Italy from December ...
was appointed new Prime Minister.
On 1 June 2018, after the
2018 Italian general election
The 2018 Italian general election was held on 4 March 2018 after the Italian Parliament was dissolved by President Sergio Mattarella on 28 December 2017. Voters were electing the 630 members of the Chamber of Deputies and the 315 elective member ...
where the
anti-establishment
An anti-establishment view or belief is one which stands in opposition to the conventional social, political, and economic principles of a society. The term was first used in the modern sense in 1958, by the British magazine ''New Statesman'' ...
Five Star Movement become the largest party in Parliament,
Giuseppe Conte
Giuseppe Conte (; born 8 August 1964) is an Italian jurist, academic, and politician who served as prime minister of Italy from June 2018 to February 2021. He has been the president of the Five Star Movement (M5S) since August 2021.
Conte ...
(leader of Five Star) was sworn in as Prime Minister, at the head of a
populist
Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term develop ...
coalition of Five Star Movement and the
League
League or The League may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band
* ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football
Sports
* Sports league
* Rugby league, full contact footba ...
.
![Giorgia Meloni 2022](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e9/Giorgia_Meloni_2022.jpg)
After the
2019 European Parliament election in Italy
The 2019 European Parliament election in Italy were held on 26 May 2019, electing members of the 9th Italian delegation to the European Parliament as part of the European elections held across the European Union.
Electoral system
The party-l ...
, where the League exceeded Five Star Movement,
Matteo Salvini
Matteo Salvini (; born 9 March 1973) is an Italian politician who has served as Deputy Prime Minister of Italy and Minister of Infrastructure and Transport since 2022. He has been Federal Secretary of Italy's Lega Nord (Northern League) party s ...
(leader of the League) proposed a
no-confidence vote
A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...
in Conte. Conte resigned, but after the consultations between the President
Sergio Mattarella
Sergio Mattarella (; born 23 July 1941) is an Italian politician, jurist, academic and lawyer who has served as the president of Italy since 2015.
A Christian leftist politician, Mattarella was a leading member of the Christian Democracy par ...
and the political parties, Conte was reappointed as Prime Minister, heading a government of the Five Star Movement and the Democratic Party of
Nicola Zingaretti
Nicola Zingaretti (; born 11 October 1965) is an Italian politician who served as President of Lazio and was Secretary of the Democratic Party from March 2019 until March 2021.
During the 1990s, he was a prominent European youth leader, serv ...
.
In January 2021, the centrist party
Italia Viva
Italia Viva (, IV) is a liberal political party in Italy founded in September 2019. The party is led by Matteo Renzi, a former Prime Minister of Italy and former secretary of the Democratic Party (PD).
History Background
Matteo Renzi sta ...
, led by former Prime Minister Renzi, withdrew its support to Conte's government. In February 2021, President Mattarella appointed
Mario Draghi
Mario Draghi (; born 3 September 1947) is an Italian economist, academic, banker and civil servant who served as prime minister of Italy from February 2021 to October 2022. Prior to his appointment as prime minister, he served as President of ...
, former President of the
European Central Bank
The European Central Bank (ECB) is the prime component of the monetary Eurosystem and the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) as well as one of seven institutions of the European Union. It is one of the world's most important centr ...
, Prime Minister. His new cabinet was supported by most Italian parties, including the League, M5S, PD, and FI.
In October 2022, President Mattarella appointed
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 ...
as Italy's first female Prime Minister, following the resignation of Mario Draghi amidst a
government crisis
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 ...
and a
general election.
See also
*
List of prime ministers of Italy
*
List of prime ministers of Italy by time in office
This list of prime ministers of Italy lists each prime minister in order of term length. This is based on the difference between dates; if counted by number of calendar days all the figures would be one greater.
Of the 60 prime ministers, 2 ha ...
*
Deputy Prime Minister of Italy
References
External links
Website of the Prime Minister of Italy
{{Authority control
Politics of Italy
1861 establishments in Italy
Articles which contain graphical timelines
la:Praeses consilii ministrorum
zh:意大利总理