Premier Giorgia Meloni has said that she will be free to get things done at the helm of government, as she does not feel constrained by the need to get re-elected in five years' time.
"The only real advantage I have over the others is that I will not work to remain in this position," Meloni, whose Fratelli D’Italia (FdI) party led a right-wing coalition to victory in the September 25 general election, said in an excerpt from a new book by journalist Bruno Vespa.
"I'm not here to survive, looking at the polls. I don't want to be re-elected in five years' time at all costs.
"If you have nothing to lose, you can push the envelope more.
"You have to break the mould to get things done.
"If you live in terror of not getting re-elected, you are destined not to do anything."
Italy's first woman premier said that the government did not have much money available, and what it did have would be used to cut energy bills for people in difficult economic circumstances.
"We have to see how we can get through the winter without bills going through the roof," she said.
