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ITALY IS SET to end two months of political uncertainty this evening when the country’s new Senate formally ratifies the appointment of a new government.
The administration – which will have Enrico Letta as its Prime Minister – is a coalition of the two largest parties, Letta’s Democratic Party and the People of Freedom movement led by Silvio Berlusconi, and also includes ministers from Mario Monti’s independent coalition.
The appointment will formally mean that Monti’s interim administration, which has remained in power despite being handed a heavy defeat in February’s election, can end.
Italian electoral law means the party (or electoral coalition) which tops the national poll for the Chamber of Deputies is guaranteed to be given a majority in that house – meaning that the Democratic Party, led into the election by Pier Luigi Bersani, had an automatic majority.
However, Bersani failed to secure a majority in the Senate, thanks to the strong regional performance of Berlusconi’s People of Freedom and the protest votes gathered by the Five Star Movement of the former comedian Beppe Grillo.
The logjam and ensuing negotiations saw Bersani step down, to be replaced by his former deputy leader Letta, who has forged a coalition with the People of Freedom – a broad marriage which leaves Grillo’s upstart movement as the main opposition body.
The independent coalition founded by Monti to fight February’s election, and which came a disappointing fourth behind Grillo’s protest movement, backed the motion of confidence in the Chamber of Deputies, giving it an easy win by 453 votes to 153.
Letta has already technically been sworn in as premier, but the first duty of a new administration is to be supported in a vote of confidence by both houses of parliament, and would be expected to immediately resign if he was rejected.
The coalition has promised to end an unpopular property tax – following an election pledge by Berlusconi – and a cut to some income tax.
Mindful of the fact that he did not himself fight the election, and that his predecessor Monti had not been elected by the people, Letta has promised to examine his record after 18 months and call an election if he is not achieving success.
His cabinet features seven women, including the first Afro-Italian minister in the country’s history, and has an average age of 53 – significantly younger than previous administrations.
Additional reporting by AP and AFP
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There will never be enough homes in this country for people. The politicians want immigration to continue and the people keep voting them in.
@common sense: Nothing to do with immigration tho, we’ve only had it for like 2/3 years ffs, we’ve never been allowed to build our own houses, they want us in a line waiting to genuflect in front of our multinational developer millionaires.
@common sense: There’s about 240. 000 empty houses in Ireland. Small towns and villages all over rural Ireland and the islands are dying, losing their schools, GPs, post offices, banks and other services due to lack of population. The focus on a couple of large urban centres is the root cause of most of our housing issues. We need more people in our small towns and villages or we will end up losing them completely.
When you present an analysis of anything there’ll be a ‘top performer’ & a ‘bottom performer’, this is hardly earth shattering or news worthy, there’s nothing to be extrapolated from this article as such
@Buster Lawless:
It is informative and interesting for people, especially those searching for a place to live.
80 miles from Dublin, wonder how long it would take a new train to make that trip! 45 mins?
@Thesaltyurchin: 160 miles away so 90 mins for me I suppose.
@Thesaltyurchin: I’d say 45 years more like if you’re lucky. Not counting consultants reports on the pricing of the previous consultants report
Where?
I have fam in MN most there build their own houses. The only ones that dont generally are the new comers.
So there’s 10,000+ people in Monaghan then !
@Kevin Kerr: report to mammy all you like, I’ll never back down from your type…… I’ll ALWAYS CALL your type out….I have daughters, sisters, nieces etc & your sickening misogyny should NEVER be acceptable
@Buster Lawless: you are a despicable individual. I never condoned that attack, and you know it. You said this morning that you have a screenshot – so tell me, what does it say?
@SYaxJ2Ts: lol, you want to run to momma y et again????…… I tried, I really tried to leave your accounts ‘unmuted’ but you & your type are simply beyond redemption…..so it’s Muted yet again , cheerio
@Buster Lawless: seek help
have your say