A half-forgotten man in Italy's fractious politics for more than a year, Giuseppe Conte has managed to outfox arguably the country's biggest political player.
As prime minister, Conte was overshadowed by his deputies in an unruly coalition – the populist Five Star and the anti-immigration League fought constantly – and was dubbed a puppet and Mr. Nobody. League leader Matteo Salvini, with a commanding margin in opinion polls, recently collapsed that government in the hopes he could force a quick election and rule on his own.
And yet Conte, with no prior political experience and no discernible political base, used his background as a lawyer to help negotiate a mandate to form a new government and see off Salvini, at least for now.
He'll need all his backroom navigating skills in the coming months. The new coalition will probably be as fragile as the old one – Five Star and the Democratic Party are long-time rivals with little in common aside from the desire to avoid snap elections. Expect clashes over the 2020 budget.
It's a matter of when, not if, elections come. Salvini may have retreated to his corner but he'll be doing his best to meddle. Bets are already on as to how long Conte's new grouping lasts.
– Rosalind Mathieson
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