Italy has gotten its fifth prime minister in as many years -- after the resignation of Matteo Renzi in the wake of a crushing referendum defeat.
The man tapped to be the new premier is Paolo Gentiloni, who has served as foreign minister under Renzi.
A soft-spoken, 62-year-old heir to an aristocratic family, Gentiloni is seen as a safe pair of hands to shepherd Italy to its next general election, due in a little over a year.
He is a center-left politician of the Democratic Party and is close to Renzi.
Gentiloni received the mandate from the Italian president, Sergio Mattarella, and is now expected to put together a Cabinet.
He said he would try to form the government “as soon as possible” and that it would
move “within the same framework” as the reformist government of Renzi.
“I am aware of the urgent need to give Italy a government with full powers,” he said.
Renzi resigned hours after losing the December 4 referendum on constitutional changes. He had made the reform a centrepiece of his government and staked his premiership on its outcome.
Image: Italy's Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni talks to reporters after receiving a mandate to try to form the country's new government, at the Quirinal Palace in Rome. Photograph: Remo Casilli/Reuters
