Ex-ECB boss Draghi to be sworn in as head of Italian unity government

Former European Central Bank (ECB) head Mario Draghi is due to be sworn into his new office as Italian prime minister at noon (1100 GMT) on Saturday.

Draghi agreed to serve as the head of a new unity government in a meeting with Italian President Sergio Mattarella on Friday, ending more than four weeks of political crisis.

The 73-year-old economist appeared before the press after the announcement and presented his list of ministers, consisting mostly of politicians and including some key technocrats.

Luigi Di Maio is to remain foreign minister and Roberto Speranza health minister, which means that some important ministers from ex-prime minister Giuseppe Conte's previous Cabinet will remain in office.

According to Draghi's plan, Marta Cartabia, an expert, will fill the post of justice minister. Cartabia was president of the Constitutional Court until September 2020.

The previously much-discussed Ministry for Ecological Restructuring will also be filled by an expert, physicist Roberto Cingolani.

Previously, Draghi had conducted intensive exploratory talks with party representatives in Rome. He received a surprising amount of support both from Conte's failed centre-left coalition and from the right-wing conservative opposition.

The government crisis - in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic - had dragged on from mid-January.

Draghi was tasked by Mattarella on February 3 with hammering out a new government under his leadership.

Draghi now needs to win a majority in a vote of confidence in both houses of parliament for his government to be confirmed.