ITALY:JUST 23 days after his emphatic election victory, media tycoon Silvio Berlusconi (71) was yesterday sworn into office as Italian prime minister.
This will be Mr Berlusconi's third term of office - he served in 1994 and from 2001 to 2006 - while his centre-right government will be Italy's 62nd since the end of the second World War.
Mr Berlusconi has wasted little or no time in forming his administration, presenting President Giorgio Napolitano with his list immediately after his own nomination as prime minister.
When Mr Berlusconi formed his first government, back in 1994, 12 days elapsed between the date of his nomination and the presentation of the ministerial list.
At first glance, the new government bears a heavy Berlusconi imprint. Of the 21 ministers - nine without portfolio and therefore not in the cabinet - 12 are from Mr Berlusconi's own Forza Italia party while his two key allies, the Northern League and the formerly fascist Alleanza Nazionale each have four posts.
Two key posts, those of economy and foreign minister, go to tried and trusted lieutenants, Giulio Tremonti and former European commissioner Franco Frattini, both of whom have already held the posts in a previous Berlusconi government.
Other trusted aides with previous government experience are Claudio Scajola at economic development, Stefania Prestigiacomo at environment, Maurizio Sacconi at labour and, above all, Gianni Letta, as cabinet undersecretary.
During the election campaign Mr Berlusconi promised to form a trimmed-down government and it is expected that his complete team will be less than 60.
In contrast, the outgoing centre-left government, led by Romano Prodi, was 108-strong, partly because of Mr Prodi's need to satisfy the many disparate elements in his often fractious coalition.
Mr Berlusconi's most powerful and potentially most troublesome ally, the Northern League, has been awarded four ministries, with Roberto Maroni returning to the interior and Luca Zaia becoming agriculture minister. League leader Umberto Bossi has been given the non-cabinet post of federal reforms, while senior figure Roberto Calderoli takes the new ministry of "simplification", a non-cabinet post that will be concerned with simplifying Italy's complex penal code.
Four of the 21 ministers are women - Stefania Prestigiacomo at environment, Maria Stella Gelmini at education, Mara Cafagna at equal opportunity and Giorgia Meloni at youth affairs.
Ms Meloni (31) is the youngest minister in Italian history and she contributes greatly to bringing down the average ministerial age to 52.
The government will face confidence votes in the lower house on Tuesday and in the senate on Wednesday, after which Mr Berlusconi intends to honour another campaign promise by holding a symbolic first cabinet meeting in Naples, focused on tackling that city's critical rubbish crisis.
