Consultations at the Quirinale for the new government have closed: President Mattarella has assigned the mandate to Giorgia Meloni. All the latest updates.
17.48: Giorgia Meloni has accepted the mandate to form the government. The swearing-in ceremony will take place tomorrow morning at 10.
16:30 – Giorgia Meloni was received at the Quirinale by President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella for the mandate.
13:00 – President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella summoned Giorgia Meloni to the Quirinale at 16:30.
11:25 – After just 11 minutes of talks with the leaders and parliamentary group leaders of the entire centre-right (Fratelli d'Italia, Lega, Forza Italia, Noi Moderati), the consultations at the Quirinale for the formation of the new government officially closed. Given the speed of the meeting with the majority, also in comparison with those held yesterday evening with the main opposition groups, and the unequivocal words of Giorgia Meloni ("We must form a government as soon as possible and we are ready"), the Fratelli d'Italia leader is expected to return to the Colle within just a few hours to receive the mandate.
Friday 21 October, 11:14 – "The meeting at the Quirinale between President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella and the centre-right delegates — Giorgia Meloni, Matteo Salvini and Silvio Berlusconi present — was surprisingly brief: "The entire coalition, which not by chance presented itself together at the consultations, gave a unanimous indication as the representative of the parliamentary majority, putting forward to the President of the Republic the nomination of the undersigned as the person entrusted with forming the new government," the Fratelli d'Italia leader said concisely.
20:10 – Work, rights and the environment: on these issues "we will be a rigorous and firm opposition. On these points we will be very vigilant, and we will not accept any regression or ambiguity." So said Enrico Letta, secretary of the Partito democratico, the last group to be received today at the Quirinale for consultations. Letta expressed the main centre-left party's concern over the fact that "inequalities in Italy are growing and it is essential that our country has effective responses: the Caritas report, which points to a serious problem of social cohesion, is troubling." No ambiguity will be granted to the government, Letta added, "there must be none either on Italy's position as a pro-European country and within the Atlantic alliance: we will not accept ambiguity over Russia's responsibility for the ongoing war, over the condemnation of Putin's criminal conduct, or over support for the Ukrainian people" — a reference to the audio recordings of Forza Italia president Silvio Berlusconi.
18:48 – Giuseppe Conte, leader of the Movimento 5 Stelle, said he expected "a government with a clear Euro-Atlantic alignment that is ready to tackle the ongoing economic and social crisis by addressing inequalities. The Russian-Ukrainian conflict is the most important challenge for the government: for over 200 days the strategy pursued has paved a path that exposes us to the risk of nuclear war and economic recession. A change of course is needed; the government should act as the driver of a peace negotiation." From the perspective of domestic policy, Conte explained that "there is a difference between a conservative policy and a reactionary policy," expressing his hope that no steps backwards would be taken on civil rights, such as abortion. Conte also stressed to Mattarella the request that a Forza Italia figure be given the foreign affairs ministry, following Silvio Berlusconi's remarks on the war in Ukraine.
17:28 – The Terzo Polo will mount a serious but not prejudicial opposition, unless rights and Italy's pro-European and Atlanticist alignment are touched. So said Carlo Calenda, leader of Azione, after his meeting with Mattarella: "We are clear on the importance of the role of the opposition, provided it is not prejudicial for as long as Italy's position in the world and on rights is respected: on these issues no compromise is possible. The sense of a wavering foreign policy position that we have experienced in recent days is alarming."
17:20 – The leaders of the Alleanza Verdi-Sinistra in the Chamber also expressed to the President of the Republic "very grave concerns about this centre-right government, which relate to the environmental emergency, the danger of a democratic drift, the curtailment of freedoms and women's rights, and a social question that genuinely worries us," in the words of Luana Zanella, parliamentary group leader in the Senate. Nicola Fratoianni stressed the need for a "commitment to peace" in Ukraine, and the risk stemming from an explosion of inequalities: "action must be taken on the windfall profits of energy companies and on the redistribution of wealth, which has not disappeared but has accumulated in the hands of a minority." According to Europa Verde, represented by Eleonora Evi and Angelo Bonelli, "the new government and in particular the new minister for Ecological Transition will have to honour international commitments on climate emissions, because having ministers who move in the opposite direction would be a problem not only for the climate but also for foreign relations."
16:47 – Consultations at the Quirinale resumed in the afternoon with the meeting between President Mattarella and the delegates of the Mixed Group of the Chamber. Among them Manfred Schullian, of the Autonomies, who reiterated what his Senate colleague Unterberger had said and explained that "the inclination is to vote against the confidence motion, but we want to see facts." Riccardo Magi, of PiùEuropa, stressed that the new legislature's priority should be the electoral law "because we are convinced that the one used today has aspects of unconstitutionality." Benedetto Della Vedova, also of Più Europa, announced "a serious and rigorous opposition, on civil rights and on fiscal responsibility," also in light of what is happening in Britain with the resignation of Prime Minister Liz Truss.
13:36 – At the end of the morning's consultations, President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella held the scheduled telephone conversation with former President Giorgio Napolitano.
13:15 – The issue of climate justice enters the consultations at the Quirinale. At the end of the meeting at the Quirinale with President Mattarella, Peppe De Cristofaro spoke on behalf of the Mixed Group of the Senate and the Verdi Sinistra component, explaining that "we will keep watch on the issue of rights, because the first act of the new majority is a bill that restricts what is an extraordinary achievement — Law 194 on abortion — and this raises serious causes for concern. As does climate justice: we cannot forget that the right has been profoundly denialist in recent years, and this causes us great discomfort."
De Cristofaro also said that "we will not give a vote of confidence to the new government" and expressed concern over the fact that "the majority forces will not be able to respond to social needs, to the serious problem of growing social inequalities, to which has been added the very grave problem of energy bills and rising inflation."
12:14 – Julia Unterberger, of the Südtiroler Volkspartei, at the end of her meeting with President Mattarella together with the Autonomies group, was very clear: "we told Mattarella that it would be right to give the mandate to Giorgia Meloni, but we expressed our concerns. We are autonomists and pro-Europeans, and in the past we have had difficulties with a nationalist party like Fratelli d'Italia and their difficulty in accepting difference: positions like being told 'go to Austria if you have complaints' or that we should be forced to put the Italian flag in every home are anything but acceptable to us. I hope they will adopt a somewhat more constructive approach towards us in the future and that such tones belong to the past." The group's inclination is to vote against a confidence motion "although we are waiting to see the government team."
The delegation also included Dafne Musolino from Sicily, who instead explained that as far as her Sud Chiama Nord component is concerned, the decision on confidence will depend on reassurances "about the major infrastructure projects the south has been waiting years for and on whether or not there will be a Ministry for the South."
11:44 – A few minutes ahead of schedule, the parliamentary group "Per le autonomie (SVP-Patt, Campobase e Sud Chiama Nord)" of the Senate of the Republic arrived at the Quirinale for consultations: Julia Unterberger, Luigi Spagnolli and Dafne Musolino are taking part in the meeting with Mattarella. Things are now getting under way: statements are expected upon their exit.
11:20 – The Speaker of the Chamber Lorenzo Fontana, who arrived at the Quirinale at 11:00, spent 20 minutes in conversation with Mattarella before leaving without making any statements.
10:20 – Senate President Ignazio La Russa left the Quirinale at the end of his meeting with the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella. "It was a cordial and moving conversation," he commented.
10:00 – Senate President Ignazio La Russa arrived at the Quirinale. Consultations have officially begun.
The time for consultations at the Quirinale has come. Starting this morning at 10:00, President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella summoned the presidents of the two Chambers and, in order of numerical strength, all the group leaders and the leaders of the forces making up the new Parliament, which was formed following the elections of last 25 September. After the first round of consultations at the Quirinale — which will conclude tomorrow morning with the centre-right forces — the President of the Republic generally identifies a figure to be entrusted with the mandate, or a pre-mandate, to form a majority and present a list of ministers; or, in the absence of clear indications from the consultations, he assigns an exploratory mandate to one of the presidents of the Chambers. Below, the live updates from the consultations.
In this case, given the clear outcome of the recent elections, President Mattarella will in all likelihood assign a mandate directly, and the figure chosen is expected to be Fratelli d'Italia leader Giorgia Meloni.
She will accept with reservation, as is customary: the reservation is expected to be lifted quickly, however, given that contacts with centre-right allies have been ongoing since immediately after the election, and all the more so since the coalition leaders (despite the internal disagreements of recent days) will attend the consultations together. Meloni (or whoever acts on her behalf) could return to the Colle to report to Mattarella, lift the reservation and submit her list of ministers to him as early as the weekend, and once the Head of State's approval has been obtained (the final say rests with him: in 2018, for instance, Mattarella vetoed prime minister-designate Giuseppe Conte's nomination of Paolo Savona for the Economy ministry) the new executive could be sworn in at the start of next week, hold the handover ceremony at Palazzo Chigi — the passing of the bell from the outgoing prime minister — and then seek a confidence vote in the Chambers within ten days.
Below is the official timetable for consultations at the Quirinale. At the end of each meeting, with the exception of those with the presidents of the Chambers, brief statements are expected from the leaders and group heads.