"This Government with ties to banks, to business, to the Vatican, to private universities - to the usual names - is the opposite of what this country needs," said Paolo Ferrero, leader of the far-left Rifondazione Comunista party. But Roberto D'Alimonte, political science professor at Rome's LUISS University, approved of the Cabinet line-up. "All these people are very high-calibre, and highly respected, independent," he said.
Outspoken criticism of the new Government was generally thin on the ground. Much of the Italian public appeared to accept that exceptional measures were necessary, with the mainstream political parties tacitly admitting they would not be able to carry the required reforms through Parliament. A poll by IPR Marketing showed that more than half of Italians - 53 per cent - back the Monti Administration.
Concerns over the degree of EU influence on Italy's internal affairs may have been fed by remarks from the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, who said it was "to be hoped that Monti will implement Italy's pledges to tackle its debt and restore market confidence". Many leading pundits were of the view, however, that a Monti-led Administration offered Italy its best chance of doing just that.
"A lot of what Monti plans to introduce will hurt," said Franco Panvoncello, a professor of politics at John Cabot University in Rome. "But it will be tempered by the fact they will combine the cuts with things such a wealth tax to make Italy a fairer place."
Corrado Passera, chief executive of Italy's biggest retail bank Intesa Sanpaolo, will head up a reinforced economic development, transport and infrastructure ministry charged with boosting growth.
- INDEPENDENT, AFP
