Italy's Berlusconi Forms Cabinet

Media baron Silvio Berlusconi became Italy's premier for the second time Sunday, forming a Cabinet that includes members of the once-fascist National Alliance and the often xenophobic Northern League.

Berlusconi assumed the premiership after submitting a list of ministers to President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, who approved it during a 20-minute meeting at the presidential palace.

The 64-year-old media tycoon's Forza Italia won 30 percent of the vote in May 13 elections, more than any other party.

The media magnate's main allies, Gianfranco Fini of the National Alliance and Northern League leader Umberto Bossi, both entered the government for the first time. Fini became deputy premier while the Ministry of Reform went to Bossi, who wants the central government to cede powers to local bodies.

The Northern League also secured two other ministries, including justice, which went to a party veteran Roberto Castelli.

Berlusconi's allies have raised concerns in Europe for their anti-immigrant positions. The Northern League, which some liken to Austria's Freedom Party of Joerg Haider, is often regarded as xenophobic.

The European Union, however, shows no intention of imposing sanctions on Italy as it did on Austria when Haider's party entered the government.

Among Berlusconi's picks for the government was the former chief of the World Trade Organization, Renato Ruggiero, to be foreign minister. Ruggiero, a respected personality in Italy and abroad, is expected to maintain Italy's traditional foreign policy stances.

Many of the key jobs went to Berlusconi's Forza Italia party, and some ministers ¡ª including Defense Minister Antonio Martino and Economics Minister Giulio Tremonti ¡ª were old faces from his first tenure as premier in 1994.

The new government will be sworn in on Monday. The premier must then put his government to a mandatory vote of confidence in both houses of parliament. Its approval is virtually assured.

The government is Italy's 59th since World War II, a tribute to a complex electoral system that gives tiny parties the leverage to shatter governing coalitions.

Berlusconi's first government collapsed after a stormy seven months when Bossi withdrew support. The media baron spent seven years as opposition leader.








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