Premier-designate Giuseppe Conte, a
law professor, said Wednesday he would be the defence lawyer of
Italians and lead a government of change.
Speaking after getting a government-formation mandate from
President Sergio Matteralla for a M5S-League executive, Conte
said that he would be the "defence attorney" for the Italian
people.
He said "I am a professor and lawyer, I have defended cases
of various people and now I defend the interests of Italians in
all EU and international fora, dialoguing with EU institutions
and with the other countries, I propose to be the defence
attorney of the Italian people".
Conte said that a government of change was set to be born.
He said Conte said "the (government) contract underlying this
experience fully represents the expectations of change of the
Italians.
"I will put it at the foundation of the government
experience in full respect for the prerogatives of the president
of the Republic and the Constitution.
"I want to give life to a government on the side of
citizens".
Conte said that "the president of the Republic conferred on
me the mandate that I accepted with reservations. If I succeed
in bringing to completion the mandate I will illustrate to
(parliament) a programme based on the agreements between the
majority political forces".
Conte said that "with the president of the Republic we spoke
about the demanding and delicate phase and the challenges
awaiting us of which I am aware as I am aware of confirming the
international and European placement of Italy".
He said that he could not wait to start to govern Italy.
Conte said "I am prepared to be premier without sparing
myself, with the utmost commitment and utmost responsibility".
He said "I can't wait to start working seriously, thank you
to you all".
Conte said that he expected to be able to drop his formal
reservations about his mandate, meaning he felt sure about
getting a confidence vote in parliament, "in the next few days".
President Mattarella handed the law professor the mandate
after nearly two hours' of talks to try to form a government
backed by the two forces who proposed him, the
anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) and the anti-migrant,
Euroskeptic League parties.
Conte, an unelected 54-year-old Puglia-born lawyer and
academic picked by the two populist parties, will assemble a
team of ministers he will then propose for Mattarella's
approval.
The M5S and League have already agreed their government team
and a government 'contract' including a basic income, flat tax,
pension reform, and vows to renegotiate EU spending limits,
expel half a million undocumented migrants, revise the TAV
high-speed rail line with France, lift compulsory school
vaccinations, scrap hundreds of 'useless' laws, and strike a new
partnership with Russia.
Mattarella is expected to have something to say about some
touted ministerial picks, especially anti-EU economist Paolo
Savona as economy minister.
He may also challenge some aspects of the programme if they
clash with the Italian Constitution and international treaties.
Conte, who would be Italy's sixth unelected premier, was
chided Tuesday on some allegedly misstated parts of his CV and
his past representation of the poster girl for the discredited
Stamina stem-cell treatment.
M5S leader Luigi Di Maio said that "today the third republic
has started" after President Sergio Mattarella summoned Conte.
"I had said so, I had promised," he continued. "Obviously,
the president decides, but if he has been summoned...".
The 'first republic' refers to Italy's post-war political
establishment that was brought down by the Tangentopoli
corruption scandal in the early 1990s.
The second republic refers to the political set-up that
followed.
League leader Matteo Salvini said there should be no veto on
82-year-old Euroskeptic economist and former minister Paolo
Savona as economy minister in the new government.
Asked about a rumoured rejection of Savona by President
Mattarella, Salvini said "I don't think there are vetoes from
anyone.
"If it is a fault to have said that certain EU choices are
against the national interest, that is a merit".
Salvini said "let's wait and see but what concerns me is that
there can't be vetoes on people who put the interests of the
Italians at the centre".
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