On Monday, Italian President Sergio Mattarella tasked Carlo Cottarelli, a symbol of budgetary austerity, with forming a government until new elections are held, which will likely take place in the autumn or “at the latest” early 2019.
Carlo Cottarelli, 64 years old, a former senior official at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) nicknamed “Mr. Scissors” for his role in cutting public spending in 2013-2014, thus takes the helm of Italy’s 65th government, following Sergio Mattarella’s dramatic veto of a populist executive without a guarantee of staying within the euro, in the name of defending Italian interests in Europe.
The current director of the Observatory on Public Accounts, Carlo Cottarelli, will now form his team before presenting himself to Parliament, where he has almost no chance of obtaining a vote of confidence. The Five Star Movement (M5S, anti-establishment) and the League (far right), which hold the majority in Parliament, have protested against his appointment.
Carlo Cottarelli stated that he aimed to prepare and pass the 2019 budget before elections in early 2019, but that if he did not obtain confidence, he would be content to manage current affairs until elections “after August.”
The sole mission of the next government should therefore be to lead the country to new elections, in an atmosphere that promises to be charged.
