Mr Gentiloni declared in an interview with Turin-based daily La Stampa on Tuesday that Italy has become a more stable nation.
“The country has overcome the most serious crises and it must not waste the common efforts made,” he said.
Formerly Italy’s foreign minister, Mr Gentiloni took over the reins of government when former premier Matteo Renzi quit a year ago after his controversial constitutional reform was rejected in a referendum.
Democratic Party (PD) leader Mr Renzi is set to be the centre-right group’s premier candidate in Italy’s next election, due by March 2018.
The PD is expected to run alone or with a small group of alliance partners, after being spurned by the new left-wing Free and Equal (LeU) party led by Senate Speaker Pietro Grasso.
At the moment, polls place the PD behind the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) and a coalition of a centre-right parties.
Senior LeU member Pier Luigi Bersani - a former PD leader who was among a group of party members who left due to hostility towards Mr Renzi this year - said he did not agree with Mr Gentiloni’s assessment.
“It is debatable whether they are leaving Italy more stable,” he told Radio Anch'io.
“Stability depends on the inequality rate and that has grown.”
With ANSA
