TOPSHOT - Italy's President Sergio Mattarella addresses journalists after a meeting with Italy's prime ministerial candidate Giuseppe Conte on May 27, 2018 at the Quirinale presidential palace in Rome. Italy's prime ministerial candidate Giuseppe Conte gave up his mandate to form a government after talks with the president over his cabinet collapsed. - "I have given up my mandate to form the government of change. I thank the president of the republic for having given me the mandate on May 23. I thank the two political forces Luigi Di Miao for the Five Star and Matteo Salvini from the League for having put me up as a candidate," said Conte to reporters after leaving a failed summit with president Sergio Mattarella today. (Photo by Vincenzo PINTO / AFP) (Photo credit should read VINCENZO PINTO/AFP/Getty Images) Italian President Sergio Mattarella addresses journalists after consultations with political parties, on May 7, 2018 at the Quirinale palace in Rome. - Italy is facing a third month of political paralysis after talks between the centre-left and the Five Star Movement over a coalition government failed to get off the ground. President Sergio Mattarella holds a fresh round of consultations "to see if the parties have other ideas for a government majority". (Photo by Andreas SOLARO / AFP) (Photo credit should read ANDREAS SOLARO/AFP/Getty Images) Italys Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte (R) shakes hands with Italy's President Sergio Mattarella during the swearing in ceremony of the new government led by the newly-appointed PM at Quirinale Palace in Rome on June 1, 2018. - Italian cabinet members of the new government led by newly appointed Prime Minister are to be sworn in later in the day, after a last-ditch coalition deal was hammered out to end months of political deadlock, narrowly avoiding snap elections in the eurozone's third largest economy. (Photo by Alberto PIZZOLI / AFP) (Photo credit should read ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP/Getty Images) Italy's newly appointed Prime minister Giuseppe Conte announces the list of his government at the Quirinale presidential palace on May 31, 2018 in Rome after a meeting with Italian President. (Photo by Tiziana FABI / AFP) (Photo credit should read TIZIANA FABI/AFP/Getty Images) (CNN) — A law professor who has never held political office was sworn in as Italy’s new Prime Minister on Friday afternoon, bringing to power a populist new government whose senior figures whipped up anti-immigrant and euroskeptic sentiments in their path to office. Giuseppe Conte took an oath of loyalty to the Italian constitution in a gilded room in the Quirinal, Italy’s presidential palace in Rome, ending three months of political turmoil. But while Conte will nominally hold the most powerful office in Italy, the driving forces in his administration will be the leaders of the two political parties that gained the most votes in an inconclusive election in March: the right-wing League party and the anti-establishment Five Star Movement. After initially vetoing the choice of finance minister, Italian President Sergio Mattarella on Thursday evening approved a reshuffled lineup. Conte and his Cabinet ministers were sworn in on Friday, with the apparently unsuitable minister – who had expressed enthusiasm for extricating Italy from the euro – shifted to the less high-profile role of Europe affairs minister. Conte and his new government will also face a confidence vote in parliament next week. Speaking at the Quirinal on Thursday evening, Conte pledged his new government would “work intensely to realize the political goals of our agreement” and “work with determination to improve the lives of all Italians.” ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP/Getty Images Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte (R) shakes hands with Italy's President Sergio Mattarella during the swearing in ceremony Friday. ’A crucial time for Italy’ The country’s new populist, euroskeptic government is likely to be met with alarm by other European leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who are both eager to push for further EU political and economic integration. President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, offered his congratulations to Conte via a statement published on Twitter, writing that his appointment “comes at a crucial time for Italy and the entire European Union” and calling for “unity and solidarity” within Europe. “I strongly believe that our community will only flourish when based on respectful dialogue and loyal cooperation, which I will do my best to ensure,” he added. The president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, also congratulated the new Prime Minister on Twitter, stating that Conte’s premiership marks the start of a “new and important” legislature. The League has also faced widespread criticism for xenophobic, anti-immigrant policies reminiscent of those forwarded by far-right parties across Europe, including Germany’s AfD and France’s National Front. League leader Matteo Salvini, who promised during the election campaign to expel half a million illegal immigrants from Italy, has been sworn in as Italy’s new interior minister, while Five Star leader Luigi Di Maio is now labor and economic development minister, a key position to fulfill his campaign promise of a universal basic income. ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP/Getty Images Luigi Di Maio (L) and Matteo Salvini (R) smile as they wait for the swearing in ceremony at the Quirinal. Hundreds gathered in Rome and Milan on Friday evening in a rally called by the opposition left-wing Democratic Party, or PD, to defend democracy. Many were also there to protest the new government. Mirko Manico tweeted a photo of demonstrators in Milan’s central Piazza della Scala. PD politician Valeria Valente posted pictures of the rally in Rome, writing that she was attending “to initiate a clear and concrete opposition to the most right-wing government in the history of the Republic.” The Democratic Party “was born from anti-fascist and popular cultures that gave Italy freedom and democracy, which is why we are defending the Republic,” she wrote. In piazza S.Apostoli per dare inizio ad un’opposizione netta e concreta al governo più a destra della storia repubblicana. @pdnetwork è nato da culture antifasciste e popolari che hanno dato all’Italia la libertà e la democrazia, per questo difenderemo la Repubblica #Italiachiamò pic.twitter.com/nUgbRbA4gX — Valeria Valente (@ValeriaValente_) June 1, 2018 A new European crisis? Italy has not had a government since it went to the polls in March, the longest such period in the country’s postwar history. For weeks, Di Maio and Salvini were locked in talks with Mattarella and struggled to form a government. During the negotiations, the populists ditched some of their most incendiary campaign vows, such as calling for a referendum on whether Italy should abandon the euro or leave the European Union. Instead they promised a spending and tax-cutting binge that has rattled investors and could contain the seeds of a new European crisis. Tensions have also risen between the two parties and the President, peaking as Di Maio called for Mattarella’s impeachment earlier this week following his rejection of Conte’s choice of finance minister. Born in the southern region of Puglia, Conte lives in Florence, where he teaches civil law at the University of Florence. When he joined the Five Star Movement during the recent election, he said he supported center-left political ideals. He was mentioned as a potential Public Administration minister in the event the Five Star Movement won a clear majority. CNN’s Lorenzo D’Agostino contributed to this report.<doc-sep>ROME (Reuters) - Italy’s anti-establishment coalition partners have again nominated Giuseppe Conte, the little-known law professor who gave up a mandate to form a government at the weekend, to be the prime minister, party leaders said in a statement on Thursday. League chief Matteo Salvini and 5-Star leader Luigi Di Maio will be ministers in Conte’s cabinet, party sources said. Di Maio is seen taking over the industry ministry and Salvini the interior ministry, sources close to the situation said. Paolo Savona, rejected as economy minister by the head of state, is seen becoming European affairs minister while Enzo Moavero Milanesi becomes foreign minister, the sources said.<doc-sep>Italy's Prime Minister-designate Giuseppe Conte talks to the media at the Quirinal Palace in Rome, Italy, May 31, 2018. REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi ROME (Reuters) - Italy’s Prime Minister-designate Giuseppe Conte named his cabinet on Thursday, with the chiefs of the anti-establishment parties backing his coalition government in key ministerial roles. The leader of the far-right League, Matteo Salvini, is to be interior minister, while 5-Star head Luigi Di Maio will spearhead a new, beefed up ministry combining the industry and labor portfolios, Conte said. Both Salvini and Di Maio will also be deputy prime ministers. A little-known economics professor, Giovanni Tria, will be economy minister, while a former European affairs minister, Enzo Moavero Milanesi, is to be foreign minister. Conte and his ministers will be officially sworn in on Friday. “We will work with determination to improve the quality of life of all Italians,” Conte told reporters at the presidential palace after receiving his mandate from the head of state, Sergio Mattarella.<doc-sep>
Eric J. Lyman Special to USA TODAY ROME — With political novice Giuseppe Conte set to become Italy's next prime minister, reaction at home focuses on his balancing act to hold power, while allies and the European Union fear a collision course with the new anti-establishment government. Conte, a relatively unknown lawyer picked as a compromise candidate, is charged with enacting a controversial populist, anti-migrant platform of the top two parties from the March 4 elections — the 5-Star Movement and the nationalist League. Their victory as the top vote-getters comes amid the populist wave that resulted in Britain's Brexit referendum and the election of Donald Trump as U.S. president, both in 2016. Italy's election was marked by vulgar and bitter attacks against the political establishment, migrants and the European Union. “Conte steps into an enormously difficult position,” said Javier Noriega, chief economist with Hildebrandt and Ferrar. More high-profile choices for prime minister may have been skipped over either because they were opposed by the coalition or because they recognized the extreme challenges Italy faces, he said. Italy is about to become the first European Union country headed by a populist government, sparking jitters across the continent. The headline in The Times of London on Thursday said: “Alarm in Europe as Italy’s populists rise to power.” The Sun called Conte an “Unknown leader of bizarre Italian coalition.” In Italy, reaction focused on how little is known about Conte or the disparate coalition he will head. The Italian center-right daily Il Foglio was harsh, proclaiming, “The Third Republic is Born as the World Laughs.” Il Fatto Quotidiano showed Conte on a tightrope under the headline, “The Acrobat.” Conte’s first order of business will be to convince financial markets and foreign leaders — including those in the U.S. — not to fear a platform that includes reconsidering Italy’s role in the 19-nation euro currency zone, establishing a flat income tax, increasing pensions, ejecting hundreds of thousands of migrants and calling on the EU to write off $300 billion in Italian debt. Markets reacted poorly after Conte's appointment on Wednesday after meeting with Italian President Sergio Mattarella. “Investors expect a certain amount of instability and uncertainty from Italy, but recent developments have gone beyond that,” Noriega said. Conte, 53, appeared to acknowledge worries about his new duties, saying he would “safeguard the interests of all Italians.” “Don’t be surprised to see Conte depart soon for Paris, Berlin or Brussels to reassure European allies,” said Luca Verzichelli, a political scientist at the University of Siena. “The new government will have to start governing as soon as possible, and that is part of it.” A day after meeting with Mattarella, Conte’s nomination was questioned amid allegations he lied about his academic credentials, but the parties backing him denied Conte lied and still backed him. Verzichelli said one of Conte's biggest challenges will be balancing the interests of the two parties that back him. They both have populist elements but are not natural allies. The 5-Star Movement is Internet-savvy and anti-elite, while the League is right-wing and nationalistic — and Conte is not a member of either party. “I want the next government to be successful, but it really seems strange that two parties so opposed to each other just pulled someone out of the woodwork to be prime minister,” said Jessica Adams, 37, a high school teacher from Cedar Key, Fla., who has lived in Italy 11 years. “It will be interesting to see what happens.” Franco Vecoli, 27, a bike messenger who voted for the 5-Star Movement, said he wasn't worried about the party's extreme policies. “It’s a negotiation. If you want five, you ask for 10,” Vecoli said. “Everybody has to compromise when they are in a coalition government. The new government will have to moderate some of its stances. I’m sure of it.”