Carlo Cottarelli given mandate to form caretaker Italian government as prime minister-designate, setting timetable for new elections
President Sergio Mattarella vetoed the nomination of fierce Eurosceptic Paolo Savona as economy minister in a coalition of the far-right League and anti-establishment Five Star Movement
Italy was hurtling towards new elections within months on Monday with the country mired in political chaos after a bid by two populist parties to form a government collapsed.
The latest crisis was sparked when President Sergio Mattarella vetoed the nomination of fierce Eurosceptic Paolo Savona as economy minister in a coalition of the far-right League and anti-establishment Five Star Movement.
His action on Sunday – which came after months of political turmoil in the wake of an inconclusive March election – sparked angry calls for his impeachment.
On Monday, Mattarella chose Carlo Cottarelli, an economist formerly with the International Monetary Fund, to form a caretaker government to take Italy into new elections. The chaos sent Italian stocks tumbling by as much as 2 per cent at one stage, and bond yields surging.
Cottarelli said that should his technocrat government win parliamentary approval, it would stay in place until elections at the start of 2019.
“I will come to parliament with a programme that, if I win the vote of confidence, will include a vote on the 2019 budget. Then parliament will be dissolved, with elections at the start of 2019,” he said.