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Italian nominated PM presents cabinet list

27 April 2013 23:24 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Italy's newly nominated prime minister Enrico Letta presented his cabinet line-up on Saturday, sheding his reservation about accepting the mandate, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

Letta, who was asked by President Giorgio Napolitano to form a long-awaited new government, said he was "satisfied" with his 21 ministers that he described as "qualified, with a high presence of women and youth."

The newly selected cabinet included ministers from the main forces which pledged to back Letta's attempt, namely the PD, the center-right and PD opponent People of Freedom (PdL) of the three-time premier Silvio Berlusconi and the centrist Civic Choice of outgoing Prime Minister Mario Monti.

Angelino Alfano, the secretary of PdL and a former justice minister, was named as deputy prime minister and interior minister.

Fabrizio Saccomanni, director general of the Italian central bank, will be the economy minister, while Emma Bonino, who served as European affairs and international trade minister and European commissioner for health and consumer protection, was selected as the first female foreign minister in Italy's history.

Anna Maria Cancellieri, former interior minister of the Monti government, was named as the new justice minister and Mario Mauro, a former vice president of the European Parliament and member of Civic Choice, will be the defense minister.

Some fresh names also emerged including Josefa Idem, a West-German-born Italian sprint canoer who won 35 international medals in her career, who will be the equal opportunities and sports minister, and Cecile Kyenge, a PD politician who was born in Congo, was selected as the new integration minister.

The new govenrment will be sworn in on Sunday, a symbol of starting its task for breaking the stalemate Italy had been locked in since elections produced a hung parliament two months ago.

Letta, a former Italy's minister and member of the European Parliament, shed the reservation after several meetings with party leaders and Napolitano, who had tasked him earlier this week to create a "broad coalition" as the "only government possible" to introduce immediate measures amid deepening crisis.

The new government was the result of a "patient, tenacious effort by the premier designate and the political parties, who chose the path of cooperation despite the predictable difficulties they faced," Napolitano said on Saturday.

"My hope is that there will be maximum cohesion," he added following the presentation of what he defined as a "political government," which will be the 62nd since Italy was proclaimed a republic after the Second World War.