Far Right Leader Giorgia Meloni Named Italy's First Female PM

Populist firebrand Giorgia Meloni has been named as Italy’s first female prime minister, becoming the country’s most far-right leader since Benito Mussolini, Rob Picheta, Valentina Di Donato and Sharon Braithwaite reported for CNN.

Photo Insert: Meloni will now bring together a cabinet that is expected to include the nationalist former Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, and may see a return to government for controversial former Italian leader Silvio Berlusconi.

She received the mandate to form a government from Italy’s President Sergio Mattarella on Friday afternoon after two days of official consultations and is set to be sworn in at 10 a.m. local time (4 a.m. ET) on Saturday.

Last month’s general election resulted in an alliance of far-right and center-right parties, led by her ultraconservative Brothers of Italy, winning enough seats in Italy’s parliament to form a government.

Meloni will now bring together a cabinet that is expected to include the nationalist former Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, and may see a return to government for controversial former Italian leader Silvio Berlusconi.

The latter made headlines earlier this week when audio released by Italian news agency LaPresse revealed the 86-year-old speaking about his “reestablished” relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Berlusconi’s office confirmed to CNN on Thursday that the clips were authentic – having apparently been secretly recorded during a meeting of his Forza Italia party in the parliamentary chamber on Tuesday.

In the audio, the billionaire and media magnate says he has “reestablished relations with President Putin” and goes on to boast that the Russian leader called him “the first of his five true friends.”

His comments raised eyebrows, as diplomatic relations between Russia and Western leaders remain strained amid the Kremlin’s grueling military assault on Ukraine. Berlusconi has been the subject of multiple corruption and bribery trials during his tumultuous political career.

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