Meloni named Italy’s first woman PM

Rome: Far-right leader Giorgia Meloni was named Italian prime minister on Friday, becoming the first woman to head a government in Italy.

Her post-fascist Brothers of Italy party -- Eurosceptic and anti-immigration -- won the September 25 legislative polls but needed outside support to form a government. Meloni´s appointment is an historic event for the eurozone´s third largest economy and for Brothers of Italy, which has never been in government.

Shortly after she was named, the 45-year-old from Rome named her ministers, who will be sworn in on Saturday in front of President Sergio Mattarella. Her Brothers of Italy party won 26 percent of the vote last month, compared to eight and nine percent respectively for her allies Forza Italia and the far-right League.

Her list of 24 ministers, including six women, revealed a desire to reassure Italy´s partners. She named Giancarlo Giorgetti as economy minister, who served under the previous government of Mario Draghi.

Giorgetti, a former minister of economic development, is considered one of the more moderate, pro-Europe members of Matteo Salvini´s League. Meloni also named ex-European Parliament president Antonio Tajani, of Forza Italia, as foreign minister and deputy prime minister.

Salvini will serve as deputy prime minister and minister of infrastructure and transport. That appointment is likely to disappoint Salvini, who wanted Meloni to give him the role of interior minister, a position that went to a technocrat, Rome prefect Matteo Piantedosi.