Giorgia Meloni, Italy's far-right leader, officially forms government

Italian politician Giorgia Meloni, whose party has neo-fascist roots, officially formed Italy's first far-right-led government since the end of the Second World War.

A presidential palace official announced on Friday that Meloni and her cabinet would be sworn in on Saturday. Meloni's Brothers of Italy, a party with neo-fascist roots, was the top vote-getter in the country's national election last month and hasformed a coalition that also features the League and Forza Italia parties.

A few hours before the new government's formation was announced, Meloni, a career politician, told reporters that she and her allies had unanimously asked President Sergio Mattarella to give her the mandate to govern.

Remarkable rise

Meloni, 45, becomes the first female Italian prime minister.

Obtaining the premiership would cap a remarkable rise against the odds for the Brothers of Italy party that Meloni co-founded in December 2012, and for the first years was considered a fringe movement on the right.

"We have indicated myself as the person who should be mandated to form the new government," Meloni said before meeting with Mattarella, flanked by her two main, sometimes troublesome, right-wing allies Matteo Salvini and former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi.

She cited urgent problems "at both national and international level," apparent references to soaring energy prices afflicting households and businesses and the war in Ukraine, which has seen European Union members divided over strategy amid worries about gas supplies during the approaching winter.

Berlusconi and Salvini stayed silent during Meloni's brief remarks to reporters. But at one point,Berlusconi raised his eyebrows and looked behind her head at Salvini as Meloni spoke.

Both men are longtime admirers of Russian President Vladimir Putin; Meloni staunchly backs Ukraine in its defence against the Russian invasion of its neighbour. Those differences could make coalition rule challenging.

Berlusconi, a three-time prime minister, has been chafing over the election victory by Meloni's party. The Brothers of Italy took 26 per cent, while Berlusconi's Forza Italia and the anti-migrant League of Salvinisnagged just over eight per centapiece in an election on Sept. 25 that saw record-low turnout.

In 2018, in the previous election for parliament, Meloni's party took just over four per cent.

Allies needed

Still, while her forces are the parliament's largest, Meloni needs her two allies in order to command a solid majority in the legislature.

Berlusconi, who fancies himself a rare leader on the world stage, recently derided her as "arrogant" in written comments, apparently after Meloni refused to make a lawmaker who is one of the media mogul's closest advisers a minister.

Earlier this week in a meeting with his lawmakers, he expressed sympathy for Putin's motivation for invading Ukraine. In that conversation, which was recorded and leaked to Italian news agency LaPresse, he also bragged that Putin had sent him bottles of vodka for his 86th birthday last month, and he gave the Russian bottles of wine while the two exchanged sweetly worded notes.

In response to Berlusconi's comments that were also derogatory about Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy, Meloni insisted that anyone joining her government must be solidly in sync with the West in opposing Putin's war. If that meant her government couldn't be formed, Meloni said, she'd take that risk.

Questioned sanctions

Salvini has at times also questioned the wisdom of tough Western sanctions against Russia. A fellow lawmaker in Salvini's League party who was recently elected president of the lower Chamber of Deputies has publicly expressed doubts about continuing the measures.

Outgoing Prime MinisterMario Draghi's national pandemic unity coalition collapsed in July, after Salvini, Berlusconi and populist 5-Star Movement leader Giuseppe Conte refused to back his government in a confidence vote. That prompted Mattarella to dissolve parliament and pave the way for elections some six months early.

While final efforts to form the new government were underway, Draghi was in Brussels, attending the final day of a European Council summit that's grappling with ways to deal with higher energy prices.

On Thursday, Mattarella received opposition leaders, who raised concerns that Meloni who campaigned with a "God, homeland, family" agenda would seek to erode abortion rights and roll back rights such as same-sex civil unions.