Meloni-We Are Ready To Form Gov't As Quickly As Possible

Wires carrying comments from right-wing nationalist Brothers of Italy (FdI) party head Giorgia Meloni, in which she states that her name has been put forward by the election-winning centre-right coalition to serve as PM, and that the group is ready to form a gov't 'as quickly as possible'. President Sergio Mattarella likely to offer the mandate to Meloni given the prospective coalition commands a majority in both houses of the Italian parliament.

• The past week has been marked by continued skirmishes between Meloni and head of the centre-right Forza Italia party, former PM Silvio Berlusconi. In the aftermath of the publication of pictures that alleged Berlusconi had insulted Meloni in his personal notes, this week has been dominated by revelations of the supposedly still-close relationship between Berlusconi and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
• Meloni has restated her commitment to supporting Ukraine and NATO. However, Berlusconi's reluctance to row back on his long-standing links with Putin or accept a more junior role in gov't (despite his party holding just 45 seats in the Chamber of Deputies to the FdI's 119, and 18 senators to the FdI's 63) could hint at difficulties ahead in maintaining gov't unity.