Unknown on verge of becoming Italy’s PM
Giuseppe Conte is a lawyer with an established academic reputation but a name virtually unknown in Italian politics.
Now, he’s on the verge of becoming this country’s leader.
Italy has been waiting for a new government since March elections failed to produce a clear-cut winner. Yesterday, the two populist parties that have been negotiating to end the political deadlock selected Conte as their preferred prime minister.
The pick places a political novice at the forefront as Italy prepares to toughen its stance on migration and push back against the European Union.
Luigi Di Maio, head of the antiestablishment Five Star Movement, called Conte a “self-made man” who represents a “synthesis” between his party and its partner, the far-right League.
The prime minister selection, like the agreement between Five Star Movement and the League, faces several steps before it can become final. The new government and its leader must receive approval from the Italian President, Sergio Mattarella. Conte must also win a vote of confidence from Parliament.
Giovanni Orsina, the deputy director of the LUISS School of Government in Rome, said the selection was a way to prevent the League or the Five Star Movement from gaining an upper hand in the government.
“I think he’s the end result of these absolutely bizarre circumstances: two strong and very visible leaders vetoing each other,” Orsina said. “It’s like an unprecedented verdict: How will the jury react? Who knows. We don’t know one of the most important pieces on the board.”
Conte, 53, teaches law at the University of Florence. He has had only fleeting exposure to the political spotlight — most notably in the days before Italy’s March 4 election, when Di Maio offered his name as a potential minister. Conte spoke then about cracking down on corruption and streamlining Italy’s “jumbled” laws.
Di Maio had hired Conte as his personal lawyer and asked him to write the party’s campaign platform on justice.
Conte’s boss at the University of Florence, Patrizia Giunti, said Conte paid attention to corporate behaviour and social responsibility. She called him friendly and generous, but said she had never talked to him about his political views.
“The traditional political class is basically torn apart completely in Italy,” said Josef Janning of the European Council on Foreign Relations. “The state is in a state of mess, and now it’s passed into the hands of those who have little respect” for norms.