Conte II Cabinet

The Conte II Cabinet is the 66th cabinet of the Italian Republic and the second cabinet led by Giuseppe Conte.[1][2][3] The government was sworn in on 5 September 2019.[4]

Conte II Cabinet
66th Cabinet of Italy
Incumbent
Date formed	5 September 2019 (2019-09-05)
People and organisations
Head of state	Sergio Mattarella
Head of government	Giuseppe Conte
No. of ministers	23 (incl. Prime Minister)
Ministers removed	1 resigned
Total no. of members	24
Member parties	M5S, PD, LeU (Art.1–SI), IV (since 18 September 2019)
Status in legislature	Coalition government
Opposition parties	Lega, FI, FdI
History
Election(s)	2018 election
Legislature term(s)	XVIII Legislature (2018–present)
Incoming formation	2019 government formation
Predecessor	Conte I Cabinet

The cabinet is supported by the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S) and the centre-left Democratic Party (PD), along with the leftist parliamentary group Free and Equal (LeU) and, since 17 September, the centrist party Italia Viva (IV), which splintered from the PD on that day. The government has been referred to as the "yellow-red government" (governo giallorosso), based on the customary colours of the main supporting parties.[5][6]

The Conte II Cabinet is the one with the lowest average age of its members in the history of the Italian Republic.[7]

Supporting parties

Beginning of term

At the time of the government formation, its ministers and other members were part of the following three parties.

Party		Position	Main ideology	Leader
	Five Star Movement (M5S)	Big tent	Populism	Luigi Di Maio
	Democratic Party (PD)	Centre-left	Social democracy	Nicola Zingaretti
	Free and Equal (LeU)[lower-alpha 1]	Left-wing	Democratic socialism	Several leaders

1. Political alliance between Article One (led by Roberto Speranza) and Italian Left (led by Claudio Grassi).

The government also obtained the support of the Associative Movement Italians Abroad (MAIE), and one of its senators, Ricardo Merlo, was appointed as undersecretary in the cabinet.[8] The government received also the external support of the following minor parties: Popular Civic List (CP), the Italian Socialist Party (PSI), Italy in Common (IiC), the South Tyrolean People's Party (SVP) and the Trentino Tyrolean Autonomist Party (PATT).[9][10]

Current

Currently, the government ministers and other members are from the following four parties.

Party		Position	Main ideology	Leader
	Five Star Movement (M5S)	Big tent	Populism	Vito Crimi (acting)
	Democratic Party (PD)	Centre-left	Social democracy	Nicola Zingaretti
	Italia Viva (IV)	Centre	Liberalism	Matteo Renzi
	Free and Equal (LeU)[lower-alpha 1]	Left-wing	Democratic socialism	Several leaders

1. Political alliance between Article One (led by Roberto Speranza) and Italian Left (led by Claudio Grassi).

On 17 September, former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi led a breakaway group outside the PD and formed Italia Viva, which confirmed its support to the government.[11]

History

Background

Main article: 2019 Italian government crisis

Conte with President Sergio Mattarella at the Quirinal Palace in August 2019

After the 2018 general election the Five Star Movement (M5S), which had come first in the election, and the League agreed to form a coalition government led by Giuseppe Conte, the Conte I Cabinet.

In August 2019, Matteo Salvini, Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the League, announced a motion of no confidence against the government, after growing tensions within the majority. Salvini's move came right after a vote in the Senate regarding the progress of the Turin–Lyon high-speed railway, in which the League, along with the largest opposition parties, voted against an attempt of the M5S to block the construction works.[12] Many political analysts believe the no confidence motion was an attempt to force early elections to improve his party's standing in Parliament, due to its increasing support in opinion polls, ensuring Salvini could become the next Prime Minister.[13] On 20 August, following the parliamentary debate in which Conte harshly accused Salvini of being a political opportunist who "had triggered the political crisis only to serve his personal interest",[14] the Prime Minister tendered his resignation to President Sergio Mattarella.[15]

Government formation

On 21 August, Mattarella started consultations with parliamentary groups. On the same day, the national board of the Democratic Party (PD) officially and unanimously opened to the prospect of a cabinet with the M5S,[14] based on pro-Europeanism, green economy, sustainable development, fight against economic inequality and a new immigration policy.[16] However, the talks resulted in a unclear outcome, the President announced a second round of consultations starting on 27 August.[17]

Negotiations between PD and M5S started,[18] while Free and Equal (LeU), a left-wing parliamentary group, announced its support too.[19] On 28 August, PD's leader Nicola Zingaretti announced at the Quirinal Palace his favourable position on forming a new government with the Five Stars with Conte at its head.[20] On same day, Mattarella summoned Conte to the Quirinal Palace for 29 August to give him the task of forming a new cabinet.[21] On 3 September, M5S members voted through the so-called "Rousseau Platform" in favor of an agreement with the PD, with Conte Prime Minister, with more than 79% of the vote out of nearly 80,000 voters.[22]

The government at the Quirinal Palace for the oath

On 4 September Conte announced the ministers of this new cabinet, which was sworn in on the following day.[23] At its start, the government was composed of 21 ministers, 14 men and 7 women, a majority of whom are from Southern Italy.[24][25]

Investiture votes

On 9 September 2019 the Chamber of Deputies approved the government with 343 votes in favour, 263 against and 3 abstentions.[26][27] On the following day the Senate followed suit, with 169 in favour, 133 against and 5 abstentions.[28][29]

9–10 September 2019 Investiture votes for Conte II Cabinet
House of Parliament	Vote	Parties	Votes
Chamber of Deputies (Voting: 609[lower-alpha 1] of 630, Majority: 304)	Y Yes	M5S (208), PD (109), LeU (14), CP–AP–PSI–AC (4), +Eu–CD (3), Others (5)	343 / 609
	N No	Lega (121), FI (95), FdI (33), NcI–USEI (4), Others (10)	263 / 609
	Abstention	SVP–PATT (3)	3 / 609
Senate of the Republic (Voting: 307[lower-alpha 2] of 321, Majority: 152)	Y Yes	M5S (104), PD (49), Aut (4), LeU (4), Others (8)	169 / 307
	N No	Lega (57), FI (56), FdI (18), +Eu (1), Others (1)	133 / 307
	Abstention	Aut (3), M5S (1), PD (1)	5 / 307

1. Absent (16): FI (4), Lega (3), M5S (3), PD (2), FdI (1), Others (3)
   On institutional leave (4): M5S (4)
2. Absent (8): FI (5), M5S (1), Others (2)
   On institutional leave (5): M5S (1), PD (1), Lega (1), Aut (1), Others (1)
   President (1)

Italia Viva and M5S crises

In September 2019 former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi lead a split from the PD, and formed a party called Italia Viva. The new party had two ministers (Teresa Bellanova and Elena Bonetti) and one undersecretary, and kept its support for the Conte II government.[30]

In December 2019 the Minister of Education and Research, Lorenzo Fioramonti, resigned after disagreements with the rest of the cabinet regarding the recently approved 2020 budget bill. Fioramonti considered the share of funds dedicated to education and research to be insufficient.[31] For the designation of the new Minister, Prime Minister Conte decided to split the Ministry of Education, University and Research into two. The Ministry of Public Education went to the former undersecretary Lucia Azzolina (M5S), whereas the Ministry of University and Research went to the dean of the University of Naples Federico II, Gaetano Manfredi (Ind).[32]

In January 2020, the Five Star Movement suffered multiple parliamentary defections and a sizeable decrease in popularity with respect to the 2018 elections.[33] Luigi Di Maio resigned from his position as M5S political leader, retaining his position as foreign minister.[34]

Coronavirus outbreak

Main article: COVID-19 pandemic in Italy

In February 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have spread to northern Italian regions. In a few weeks, it spread to the rest of the country, with major concentration of cases in the regions of Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna, Piedmont and Veneto. The government faced the subsequent health crisis by imposing gradually stricter measures of social distancing and quarantine, until finally on 9 March established a nationwide lockdown, restricting the movement of people except for reasons of necessity, health, or work.[35][36]

Party breakdown

Beginning of term

Ministers

Five Star Movement	9
Democratic Party	9
Free and Equal	1
Independents	3

Ministers and other members

• Five Star Movement (M5S): 9 ministers, 6 deputy ministers, 16 undersecretaries
• Democratic Party (PD): 9 ministers, 4 deputy ministers, 14 undersecretaries
• Free and Equal (LeU): 1 ministers, 2 undersecretaries
  • Article One (Art.1): 1 minister, 1 undersecretary
  • Italian Left (SI): 1 undersecretary
• Associative Movement Italians Abroad (MAIE): 1 undersecretary
• Independents: Prime minister, 2 ministers

Current

Ministers

Five Star Movement	9
Democratic Party	7
Italia Viva	2
Free and Equal	1
Independents	4

Ministers and other members

• Five Star Movement (M5S): 9 ministers, 6 deputy ministers, 15 undersecretaries
• Democratic Party (PD): 7 ministers, 4 deputy ministers, 13 undersecretaries
• Italia Viva (IV): 2 ministers, 1 undersecretary
• Free and Equal (LeU): 1 ministers, 2 undersecretaries
  • Article One (Art.1): 1 minister, 1 undersecretary
  • Italian Left (SI): 1 undersecretary
• Associative Movement Italians Abroad (MAIE): 1 undersecretary
• Independents: Prime minister, 3 ministers

Geographical breakdown

Beginning of term

A choropleth map showing the number of ministers from each region.

• Northern Italy: 8 ministers
  • Emilia-Romagna: 2 ministers
  • Friuli-Venezia Giulia: 1 minister
  • Lombardy: 2 ministers
  • Piedmont: 2 ministers
  • Veneto: 1 minister
• Central Italy: 2 ministers
  • Lazio: 2 ministers
• Southern and Insular Italy: 12 ministers (including Conte)
  • Apulia: 3 ministers (including Conte)
  • Basilicata: 2 ministers
  • Campania: 4 ministers
  • Sicily: 3 ministers

Current

• Northern Italy: 8 ministers
  • Emilia-Romagna: 2 ministers
  • Friuli-Venezia Giulia: 1 minister
  • Lombardy: 2 ministers
  • Piedmont: 2 ministers
  • Veneto: 1 minister
• Central Italy: 1 minister
  • Lazio: 1 minister
• Southern and Insular Italy: 14 ministers (including Conte)
  • Apulia: 3 ministers (including Conte)
  • Basilicata: 2 ministers
  • Campania: 5 ministers
  • Sicily: 4 ministers

Council of Ministers

The Council of Ministers is composed of the following members:[37][1][2]

Office	Name	Party		Term
Prime Minister	Giuseppe Conte		Independent[lower-alpha 1]	2019–present
Minister of Foreign Affairs	Luigi Di Maio		Five Star Movement	2019–present
Minister of the Interior	Luciana Lamorgese		Independent	2019–present
Minister of Justice	Alfonso Bonafede		Five Star Movement	2019–present
Minister of Defence	Lorenzo Guerini		Democratic Party	2019–present
Minister of Economy and Finance	Roberto Gualtieri		Democratic Party	2019–present
Minister of Economic Development	Stefano Patuanelli		Five Star Movement	2019–present
Minister of Agriculture and Tourism	Teresa Bellanova		Democratic Party / Italia Viva	2019–present
Minister of the Environment	Sergio Costa		Independent	2019–present
Minister of Infrastructure and Transport	Paola De Micheli		Democratic Party	2019–present
Minister of Labour and Social Policies	Nunzia Catalfo		Five Star Movement	2019–present
Minister of Education, University and Research	Lorenzo Fioramonti		Five Star Movement	2019
	Lucia Azzolina (Public Education)		Five Star Movement	2020–present
	Gaetano Manfredi (University and Research)		Independent	2020–present
Minister of Cultural Heritage and Activities	Dario Franceschini		Democratic Party	2019–present
Minister of Health	Roberto Speranza		Free and Equal (Art.1)	2019–present
Minister for Parliamentary Relations	Federico D'Incà		Five Star Movement	2019–present
Minister of Public Administration	Fabiana Dadone		Five Star Movement	2019–present
Minister of Regional Affairs	Francesco Boccia		Democratic Party	2019–present
Minister for the South	Giuseppe Provenzano		Democratic Party	2019–present
Minister for Family and Equal Opportunities	Elena Bonetti		Democratic Party / Italia Viva	2019–present
Minister of European Affairs	Vincenzo Amendola		Democratic Party	2019–present
Minister for Sport and Youth Policies	Vincenzo Spadafora		Five Star Movement	2019–present
Minister for Technological Innovation	Paola Pisano		Five Star Movement	2019–present
Secretary of the Council of Ministers	Riccardo Fraccaro		Five Star Movement	2019–present

1. Proposed by the Five Star Movement.

Composition of the Government

Portrait	Office	Name	Term	Party		Deputy Ministers Undersecretaries
	Prime Minister	Giuseppe Conte	5 September 2019 – present		Independent	Undersecretaries: Riccardo Fraccaro (M5S) Mario Turco (M5S) Andrea Martella (PD)
	Minister of Foreign Affairs	Luigi Di Maio	5 September 2019 – present		Five Star Movement	Deputy Ministers: Emanuela Del Re (M5S) Marina Sereni (PD) Undersecretaries: Manlio Di Stefano (M5S) Ivan Scalfarotto (IV) Ricardo Merlo (MAIE)
	Minister of the Interior	Luciana Lamorgese	5 September 2019 – present		Independent	Deputy Ministers: Vito Crimi (M5S) Matteo Mauri (PD) Undersecretaries: Carlo Sibilia (M5S) Achille Variati (PD)
	Minister of Justice	Alfonso Bonafede	5 September 2019 – present		Five Star Movement	Undersecretaries: Vittorio Ferraresi (M5S) Andrea Giorgis (PD)
	Minister of Defence	Lorenzo Guerini	5 September 2019 – present		Democratic Party	Undersecretaries: Angelo Tofalo (M5S) Giulio Calvisi (PD)
	Minister of Economy and Finance	Roberto Gualtieri	5 September 2019 – present		Democratic Party	Deputy Ministers: Laura Castelli (M5S) Antonio Misiani (PD) Undersecretaries: Alessio Villarosa (M5S) Pierpaolo Baretta (PD) Maria Cecilia Guerra (LeU/Art.1)
	Minister of Economic Development	Stefano Patuanelli	5 September 2019 – present		Five Star Movement	Deputy Minister: Stefano Buffagni (M5S) Undersecretaries: Alessandra Todde (M5S) Mirella Liuzzi (M5S) Gian Paolo Manzella (PD) Alessia Morani (PD)
	Minister of Agriculture	Teresa Bellanova	5 September 2019 – present		Italia Viva Before 18 September 2019: Democratic Party	Undersecretaries: Giuseppe L'Abbate (M5S)
	Minister of the Environment	Sergio Costa	5 September 2019 – present		Independent	Undersecretaries: Roberto Morassut (PD)
	Minister of Infrastructure and Transport	Paola De Micheli	5 September 2019 – present		Democratic Party	Deputy Minister: Giancarlo Cancelleri (M5S) Undersecretaries: Roberto Traversi (M5S) Salvatore Margiotta (PD)
	Minister of Labour and Social Policies	Nunzia Catalfo	5 September 2019 – present		Five Star Movement	Undersecretaries: Stanislao Di Piazza (M5S) Francesca Puglisi (PD)
	Minister of Education, University and Research[lower-alpha 1]	Lorenzo Fioramonti	5 September 2019 – 30 December 2019[lower-alpha 2]		Five Star Movement	Deputy Minister: Anna Ascani (PD) (until 10 January 2020) Undersecretaries: Lucia Azzolina (M5S) (until 10 January 2020) Giuseppe De Cristofaro (LeU/SI) (until 10 January 2020)
		Giuseppe Conte (interim)	30 December 2019 – 10 January 2020		Independent
	Minister of Public Education[lower-alpha 1]	Lucia Azzolina	10 January 2020 – present		Five Star Movement	Deputy Minister: Anna Ascani (PD) Undersecretaries: Giuseppe De Cristofaro (LeU/SI)
	Minister of University and Research[lower-alpha 1]	Gaetano Manfredi	10 January 2020 – present		Independent
	Minister of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism	Dario Franceschini	5 September 2019 – present		Democratic Party	Undersecretaries: Anna Laura Orrico (M5S) Lorenza Bonaccorsi (PD)
	Minister of Health	Roberto Speranza	5 September 2019 – present		Free and Equal (Article One)	Deputy Minister: Pierpaolo Sileri (M5S) Undersecretaries: Sandra Zampa (PD)
	Minister for Parliamentary Relations (without portfolio)	Federico D'Incà	5 September 2019 – present		Five Star Movement	Undersecretaries: Gianluca Castaldi (M5S) Simona Malpezzi (PD)
	Minister of Public Administration (without portfolio)	Fabiana Dadone	5 September 2019 – present		Five Star Movement
	Minister of Regional Affairs (without portfolio)	Francesco Boccia	5 September 2019 – present		Democratic Party
	Minister for the South (without portfolio)	Giuseppe Provenzano	5 September 2019 – present		Democratic Party
	Minister for Family and Equal Opportunities (without portfolio)	Elena Bonetti	5 September 2019 – present		Italia Viva Before 18 September 2019: Democratic Party
	Minister of European Affairs (without portfolio)	Vincenzo Amendola	5 September 2019 – present		Democratic Party	Undersecretaries: Laura Agea (M5S)
	Minister for Sport and Youth Policies (without portfolio)	Vincenzo Spadafora	5 September 2019 – present		Five Star Movement
	Minister for Technological Innovation (without portfolio)	Paola Pisano	5 September 2019 – present		Five Star Movement
	Secretary of the Council of Ministers	Riccardo Fraccaro	5 September 2019 – present		Five Star Movement	—

1. On 28 December 2019, after the resignation of former Minister of Education, University and Research, Lorenzo Fioramonti, the prime minister split the Ministry into a Ministry of Public Education and a Ministry of University and Research.
2. Fioramonti resigned after disagreements on the 2020 financial budget bill. According to Fioramonti, the approved bill allocated insufficient funds for education and research.

References

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2. Barigazzi, Jacopo (4 September 2019). "Italy's Conte presents Cabinet list, with MEP Gualtieri as finance minister". POLITICO. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
3. "Governo Conte bis: ecco la lista completa dei ministri". Repubblica.it. 4 September 2019.
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5. Johnson, Miles (4 September 2019). "Giuseppe Conte seeks go-ahead to form Italy coalition government". Financial Times. Rome. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
6. "Governo giallo-rosso e l'interesse nazionale". L'HuffPost. 31 August 2019.
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8. Riccardo Merlo (MAIE) confermato sottosegretario agli steri
9. La Camera vota la fiducia con 343 sì, il premier replica alla Camera fra le proteste. Alzata anche una sedia
10. Governo, il Conte bis incassa la fiducia alla Camera. Il discorso del premier
11. Amante, Angelo; Ciociola, Andrea (17 September 2019). "Former Italy PM Renzi leads breakaway from PD, still backs government". Reuters. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
12. https://www.corriere.it/politica/19_agosto_07/voto-tav-giorno-mozioni-senato-lega-vota-quella-pd-5d7ba448-b8e6-11e9-8028-c32e9be56d04.shtml
13. Squires, Nick (9 August 2019). "Italy's League files no confidence motion in prime minister in bid to trigger election". The Telegraph – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
14. Giuffrida, Angela (20 August 2019). "Italian PM resigns with attack on 'opportunist' Salvini". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.
15. Horowitz, Jason (20 August 2019). "Italy's Government Collapses, Turning Chaos Into Crisis". The New York Times.
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18. "Ecco l'accordo sul Conte bis: Zingaretti dà il via libera, nodo su ministeri e manovra". Fanpage.
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24. "Governo, i 21 ministri del Conte bis Sette donne, Lamorgese all'Interno". www.ilgazzettino.it.
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30. Amante, Angelo; Ciociola, Andrea (17 September 2019). "Former Italy PM Renzi leads breakaway from PD, still backs government". Reuters. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
31. Jones, Gavin (25 December 2019). "Italy education minister resigns over lack of funds for ministry". Reuters. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
32. "Conte:: "Separare la Scuola dall'Università. Azzolina ministro dell'Istruzione e Manfredi della Ricerca"". Repubblica.it (in Italian). 28 December 2019. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
33. Horowitz, Jason (18 January 2020). "As Five Star Party Risks Implosion, Italy Fears the Fallout". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
34. Giuffrida, Angela (22 January 2020). "Luigi Di Maio resigns as leader of Italy's Five Star Movement". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
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External links