Giuseppe Conte

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Giuseppe Conte (2020)
Signature of Giuseppe Conte

Giuseppe Conte ( dʒuˈzɛpːɛ ˈkɔntɛ , born August 8, 1964 in Volturara Appula ) is an Italian legal scholar and non-party politician . He has been Prime Minister of Italy since June 1, 2018 . On August 20, 2019, Conte resigned as head of government, but remained in office temporarily at the request of President Sergio Mattarella . On September 5, he was re-confirmed as prime minister and then became a coalition of the five-star movement and the Partito Democraticoin front. After the break of his coalition, Conte resigned as head of government on January 26, 2021.

Life

Giuseppe Conte grew up in the small town of Volturara Appula near Foggia and attended school in San Giovanni Rotondo , the place of pilgrimage for the Italian national saint, Padre Pio . He studied law at La Sapienza University in Rome, where he passed his exams in 1988 with summa cum laude . In 1992 and 1993 he received a scholarship from the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche . According to his own statements, he completed stays abroad in 1992 at Yale University in New Haven (Connecticut) and Duquesne University in Pittsburgh , 2000 at the Sorbonne in Paris, 2001 at Girton College in Cambridge and from 2008 to 2009 at New York University (NYU) . A spokeswoman for the NYU told the New York Times that Conte was neither a student nor a faculty member. The five-star movement stated that Conte had never written or completed courses or masters at the university. He just improved his English in New York .

Conte is Professor of Private Law at the University of Florence and the LUISS University in Rome. He has a law firm in Rome and is admitted to the bar at the Supreme Court of Cassation , the highest court in the ordinary courts of Italy .

Conte lives separately from his wife Valentina Fico, with whom he has a son who was born in 2007. Conte is currently in a relationship with Olivia Paladino, who sometimes accompanies him on public state visits.

politics

Shortly before the parliamentary elections on March 4, 2018 , Luigi Di Maio , the leading candidate of the Eurosceptic Five-Star Movement (M5S), presented a shadow cabinet . This included the non-party Conte as a possible Minister for Public Administration. However, the elections did not result in a clear majority within the two political camps. Since only the Lega Nord together with the Five Star Movement were able to achieve a rulable relative majority in both chambers of parliament , the two parties presented a joint government program on May 18, 2018, albeit ideologically far from each other and sometimes in contrast.

President Sergio Mattarella receives Giuseppe Conte in May 2018 in the Quirinal Palace in Rome

On May 21st, President Mattarella received delegations from both parties to discuss the formation of a coalition government. Your two top candidates Matteo Salvini and Luigi Di Maio proposed Giuseppe Conte as the new Prime Minister . After discussions with the Presidents of the Chamber of Deputies Roberto Fico (M5S) and the Senate Maria Casellati ( FI ), Mattarella commissioned Giuseppe Conte to form a government on May 23, 2018. On May 27, 2018, President Mattarella rejected the appointment of Euro-critical economist Paolo Savona as finance minister because he feared negative reactions from financial markets and investors for Italy. The Lega was not ready to name another candidate instead of their preferred candidate Savona. Therefore Conte returned the government contract.

Paolo Gentiloni and Giuseppe Conte at the traditional handover of the Council of Ministers bell on June 1, 2018 in Palazzo Chigi

In the second attempt, both parties agreed at short notice on a reshuffle: Giovanni Tria was proposed as finance minister and Savona as minister for European affairs. Tria is not considered a supporter of leaving the euro. On the other hand, the economists refrained Carlo Cottarelli , had the President Mattarella after the withdrawal Contes meantime commissioned alternatively, to presenting an own cabinet list until May 31, 2018. Subsequently, renewed Mattarella government job to Conte and sworn on June 1, 2018 which proposed Cabinet with 18 ministers, including five women. On June 5, 2018, the Senate trusted the Conte government (171 for, 117 against, 25 abstentions), and the next day the Chamber of Deputies (350 for, 236 against, 35 abstentions).

On August 20, 2019, Conte announced his resignation as head of government in the Senate. As expected, he was ahead of a vote of no confidence with which the Lega had threatened. Interior Minister and Lega boss Matteo Salvini had declared the government alliance between his party and the five-star movement to be unable to work almost two weeks earlier and plunged it into a crisis. Salvini had achieved a high approval rating with his party from the electorate and was hoping for new elections, from which he could theoretically have emerged as the new Prime Minister.

After Conte's resignation, President Sergio Mattarella had to decide whether the task of finding a new majority and government should be given or whether parliament should be dissolved and new elections ordered. Mattarella accepted Conte's resignation and at the same time instructed him to continue the official business for the time being.

On August 28, 2019, the Five Star Movement and the Democratic Party agreed to form a government coalition led by Contes. His personality was considered a prerequisite for an alliance. A day later, Mattarella officially tasked Conte with the formation of a new government. After completion of the coalition negotiations and the approval of the coalition agreement by the members of the Five Star Movement via their Internet platform Rousseau , Conte presented his new cabinet draft to the President on September 4th, along with ministers from the Five Star Movement and the Democratic Party also contains a ministerial post for the left-wing Liberi e Uguali (LEU) party .

On January 13, 2021, the ministers of Matteo Renzi's party Italia Viva withdrew from the government. The coalition of the Five Star Movement and Social Democrats ( Partito Democratico , PD) under the non-party Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte no longer had a sufficient majority in parliament. On January 18, 2021, the House of Representatives of the Conte government expressed its confidence . He also won the vote of confidence in the Senate, but was unable to secure an absolute majority. On January 26, 2021, Giuseppe Conte submitted his resignation.

Political positions

Foreign policy

At the beginning of his tenure as Prime Minister, Conte, like US President Donald Trump , spoke out in favor of Russia's re-entry into the G7 (then G8 again). He also spoke out in favor of reviewing the European sanctions against Russia that have existed since 2014 . "We will be the initiators for a review of the sanction system," he said when he took office.

Financial and economic policy

After taking office as Prime Minister, Conte confirmed his country's willingness to reduce its national debt . However, debt should be reduced "through growth, not with the help of austerity".

Migration policy

When presenting the government program in the Senate, Conte said: "We will put an end to the immigration business that has grown beyond measure under the guise of feigning solidarity". He rejected the accusation of xenophobia and said: "We are not and will never be racist." The government will stand up for the rights of those migrants "who arrive legally in our country."

For Conte, the issue of migration is the first acid test for “our new form of dialogue with the EU”. His government will demand a revision of the Dublin rules in order to achieve a "fair distribution of responsibilities".

Web links

Commons : Giuseppe Conte  - collection of images

Individual evidence

  1. lastampa.it: Ecco chi è Giuseppe Conte, possibile nuovo premier
  2. Consultazioni, Mattarella convoca Conte per giovedì mattina: il premier al Colle all 09:30 .
  3. ^ Angela Giuffrida: Italian PM announces resignation in speech , The Guardian . 20th August 2019. 
  4. Italy's Prime Minister Conte resigned , Der Spiegel . January 26, 2021. 
  5. www.civilistiitaliani.eu
  6. orf.at: Doubts about the curriculum vitae of Italy's prime candidate . Article dated May 22, 2018, accessed May 22, 2018.
  7. luiss.it
  8. Avvocato cassazionista presso il foro di roma
  9. Alessandra Paolini: Chi è Olivia Paladino, la compagna del premier Giuseppe Conte. repubblica.it, December 10, 2020, accessed on August 18, 2020 (Italian).
  10. Michael Braun: New Prime Minister in Italy: Squeezed into power . In: The daily newspaper (Taz) . May 22, 2018, ISSN  0931-9085 ( taz.de [accessed May 24, 2018]).
  11. Lega and Five Stars publish government program . In: Zeit Online . May 18, 2018 ( zeit.de [accessed May 23, 2018]).
  12. www.quirinale.it
  13. www.ilblogdellestelle.it
  14. ^ Matthias Rüb , Manfred Schäfers: Scientist Conte is to become the new Prime Minister . In: FAZ.net . May 21, 2018, ISSN  0174-4909 ( faz.net [accessed May 23, 2018]).
  15. www.quirinale.it
  16. quirinale.it
  17. ^ WORLD: Italy: Giuseppe Conte returns government order . In: THE WORLD . May 27, 2018 ( welt.de [accessed May 27, 2018]).
  18. ZEIT: Italy: Lega and five stars agree on coalition . In: TIME . May 31, 2018 ( zeit.de [accessed May 31, 2018]).
  19. ^ Matthias Rüb: Coalition Five Stars and Lega: New government in Italy will be sworn in on Friday . May 31, 2018 ( faz.net [accessed May 31, 2018]).
  20. Italian Senate gives Conte government confidence. Retrieved June 13, 2018 (German).
  21. FAZ.net June 6, 2018: Parliament votes for Italy's populist alliance
  22. a b President instructs Giuseppe Conte to form a government . In: zeit.de, August 29, 2019 (accessed August 30, 2019).
  23. Italy's Prime Minister Conte announces resignation . In: faz.net, August 20, 2019 (accessed August 20, 2019).
  24. Dominik Straub: Italy's President accepts the resignation of Prime Minister Conte. Der Standard , August 20, 2019, accessed on the same day.
  25. Governo, Conte annuncia i ministri: Gualtieri all'Economia, Lamorgese all'Interno, Di Maio agli Esteri. Fraccaro sottosegretario alla presidenza dopo lite tra il premier e il capo politico M5S. In: repubblica.it. September 4, 2019, accessed September 4, 2019 (Italian).
  26. ORF at / agencies red: Renzi party gets out: coalition in Italy burst. January 13, 2021, accessed January 26, 2021 .
  27. Government crisis - Italy's Prime Minister Conte wins a vote of confidence. In: srf.ch . January 18, 2021, accessed January 19, 2021 .
  28. ^ Government crisis in Italy: Giuseppe Conte survives second vote of confidence. In: The time . January 19, 2021, accessed January 26, 2021 .
  29. ORF at / agencies red: Italy: Conte submits his resignation. January 26, 2021, accessed January 26, 2021 .
  30. spiegel.de: G8 instead of G7 - Trump wants Russia to be there again
  31. a b t-online.de: Conte wants to reduce debts through growth
  32. Conte wants to curb migration . SZ-Online, June 5, 2018.
  33. spiegel.de June 5, 2018: Conte calls for the end of the "pretended solidarity"
  34. www.governo.it: Comunicazioni del Presidente del Consiglio dei ministri. Senato della Repubblica - seduta del 5 giugno 2018. Resoconto stenografico (pdf)