Incoming Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte presented his cabinet after striking a deal between the two parties, once former foes.

Conte said the new government would work with “intense passion” to revive spirits in Italy, which is struggling with high debt, high unemployment and widespread dissatisfaction over immigration and the country’s icy relationship with Brussels.

Cabinet members will take the oath at 10:00 am on Thursday, marking a new political era after the collapse of the doomed M5S-League coalition last month.

The new coalition will have to be approved by both houses of parliament, possibly by the end of the week, to ensure it has a majority. 

There are 21 members of the so-called “Conte Two” government, plus the prime minister and his undersecretary, M5S member Riccardo Fraccaro.

Eleven are from the M5S, nine are from the PD, one is from the PD’s left-wing ally Free and Equal (LeU), and two are independent.

The new cabinet includes seven women ministers.

M5S leader Luigi Di Maio will be foreign minister, while PD member Roberto Gualtieri has been given the finance post in the eurozone’s third largest economy.

Gualtieri, who has chaired the European Parliament’s committee on economic and monetary affairs for the past five years, will have to move fast to deal with Italy’s most pressing issue – submitting the 2020 budget by the end of September.

Meanwhile, the coveted interior portfolio went to Luciana Lamorgese, a former Milan and Venice security chief, while Lorenzo Guerini, former head of the parliamentary intelligence services oversight committee COPASIR, will be defence minister. 

The European affairs portfolio goes to Vincenzo Amendola of the PD, who served as an undersecretary in the Foreign Ministry the last time the party was in power.

M5S member Alfonso Bonafede will remain in his post as justice minister, while Roberto Speranza of LeU will take care of the health portfolio.

M5S member Sergio Costa continues as environment minister from the previous government.

Dario Franceschini returns as culture minister, having held the post the last time the PD was in government, while M5S member Paola Pisano will look after the innovation portfolio.

The remainder of the posts go to:

  • Equal Opportunities and Families: Elena Bonetti (PD)
  • Work and Social Policy: Nunzia Catalfo (M5S)
  • Economic Development: Stefano Patuanelli (M5S)
  • Education: Lorenzo Fioramonti (M5S)
  • Farming, Food and Forests: Teresa Bellanova (PD)
  • Infrastructure and Transport: Paola De Micheli (PD)
  • Parliamentary Relations: Federico D'Incà (M5S)
  • Public Administration: Fabiana Dadone (M5S)
  • Regional Affairs: Francesco Boccia (PD)
  • The South: Giuseppe Provenzano (PD)
  • Sport and Young People: Vincenzo Spadafora (M5S)

Conte is believed to be the only premier in the history of the Italian Republic to return for a second term at the head of a totally different governing majority.