The Letta government was the 62nd government of the

Italian Republic Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. In office from 28 April 2013 to 22 January 2014, it comprised ministers of the Democratic Party (PD),

The People of Freedom The People of Freedom ( it, Il Popolo della Libertà, PdL) was a centre-right political party in Italy. The PdL, launched by Silvio Berlusconi on 18 November 2007, was initially a federation of political parties, notably including Forza Italia a ...

(PdL),

Civic Choice Civic Choice ( it, Scelta Civica; SC) was a centrist and liberal political party in Italy founded by Mario Monti. The party was formed in the run-up of the 2013 general election to support the outgoing Prime Minister Monti and continue his pol ...

(SC), the Union of the Centre (UdC), one of the

Italian Radicals The Italian Radicals ( it, Radicali Italiani, RI) is a liberal and libertarian political party in Italy. Founded on 14 July 2001 with Daniele Capezzone as their first secretary, the party describes itself as "''liberale'', ''liberista'' nd''li ...

(RI) and three non-party independents. The government was referred to by journalists as a Grand coalition ( it, Grande coalizione) or Government of broad agreements ( it, Governo di larghe intese). At formation, the government benefited from a

supermajority A supermajority, supra-majority, qualified majority, or special majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of more than one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority ru ...

in the

Italian Parliament The Italian Parliament ( it, Parlamento italiano) is the national parliament of the Italian Republic. It is the representative body of Italian citizens and is the successor to the Parliament of the Kingdom of Italy (1861–1943), the transitio ...

, one of the largest in the

history of the Italian Republic The history of the Italian Republic concerns the events relating to the history of Italy that have occurred since 1946, when Italy became a republic. The Italian republican history is generally divided into two phases, the so-called First and Se ...

. It was the youngest government to date, with a median age of 53. It was sworn in on 28 April 2013 and won the confidence vote in both the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon Res ...

on 29 April and the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

on 30 April.

Formation and end

The 2013 general election, held on 24–25 February, saw the rise of the

Five Star Movement The Five Star Movement ( it, Movimento 5 Stelle , M5S) is a political party in Italy. Its leader and president is Giuseppe Conte, Prime Minister of Italy from 2018 until 2021. The M5S was founded on 4 October 2009 by Beppe Grillo, a comedian an ...

(M5S) and the lack of a common majority in both houses of Parliament. More specifically, the centre-left coalition (

Italy. Common Good Italia. Bene Comune (Italy. Common Good, IBC) was a centre-left political list and electoral alliance in Italy created to stand at the 2013 Italian general election. It ''de facto'' ended on 28 April 2013, with PD's new leader Enrico Letta forming ...

) was ahead of the

centre-right coalition The centre-right coalition ( it, coalizione di centro-destra) is an alliance of political parties in Italy, active—under several forms and names—since 1994, when Silvio Berlusconi entered politics and formed his Forza Italia party. Despite ...

, but controlled a majority only in the Chamber of Deputies. The election was followed by weeks of deadlock, including various failed attempts either to elect a

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

to succeed

Giorgio Napolitano Giorgio Napolitano (; born 29 June 1925) is an Italian politician who served as president of Italy from 2006 to 2015, the first Italian president to be re-elected to the presidency. Due to his dominant position in Italian politics, some critics ...

and form a government, the establishment of a panel of experts by the President himself (the so-called "wise men") in order to outline priorities and formulate an agenda to deal with the persistent economic hardship and growing unemployment, and, ultimately, the resignation of

Pier Luigi Bersani Pier Luigi Bersani (; born 29 September 1951) is an Italian politician and was Secretary of the Democratic Party (PD), Italy's leading centre-left party, from 2009 to 2013. Bersani was Minister of Industry, Commerce and Craftmanship from 1996 ...

from secretary of the Democratic Party (PD). On 22 April 2013 Napolitano, after being re-elected for an unprecedented second term, immediately started consultations. Two days later, the President gave

Enrico Letta Enrico Letta (; born 20 August 1966) is an Italian politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy from April 2013 to February 2014, leading a grand coalition of centre-left and centre-right parties. Since March 2021, Letta has been secretary ...

, deputy-secretary of the PD, the task of forming a government, having determined that Bersani could not. Letta succeeded

Mario Monti Mario Monti, (born 19 March 1943) is an Italian economist and academic who served as the Prime Minister of Italy from 2011 to 2013, leading a technocratic government in the wake of the Italian debt crisis. Monti served as a European Commi ...

, who had resigned on 21 December 2012, but whose

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government i ...

remained in charge for ordinary administration until 28 April 2013, the day the new government was sworn in. During the ceremony, a man fired shots outside

Palazzo Chigi The Chigi Palace ( it, Palazzo Chigi ) is a palace and former noble residence in Rome which is the seat of the Council of Ministers and the official residence of the Prime Minister of Italy. Since 22 October 2022, the tenant of the Chigi Palace h ...

and wounded two

Carabinieri The Carabinieri (, also , ; formally ''Arma dei Carabinieri'', "Arm of Carabineers"; previously ''Corpo dei Carabinieri Reali'', "Royal Carabineers Corps") are the national gendarmerie of Italy who primarily carry out domestic and foreign polic ...

. The cabinet was composed mainly by four parties: the PD,

(PdL),

(SC) and the Union of the Centre (UdC). The fact that the new Prime Minister was a nephew of

Gianni Letta Gianni Letta (born 15 April 1935) is an Italian journalist and politician. He is a close advisor of Silvio Berlusconi and a member of the advisory board of Goldman Sachs International. Biography After graduating in law, he started working as a ...

, one of the most trusted advisors to

Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies f ...

, the leader of the PdL, was perceived as a way of overcoming the bitter hostility between the two opposing camps. However, on 28 September, Berlusconi asked his party's five ministers to resign from the government over a tax hike. On 15 November 2013, Berlusconi, who would be soon stripped of his seat in the Senate with PD's votes due to his conviction for tax fraud, announced the re-foundation of

Forza Italia Forza ItaliaThe name is not usually translated into English: ''forza'' is the second-person singular imperative of ''forzare'', in this case translating to "to compel" or "to press", and so means something like "Forward, Italy", "Come on, Ital ...

(FI), in opposition to the government, and the PdL split. In fact, all five PdL ministers, led by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior

Angelino Alfano Angelino Alfano (; born 31 October 1970) is an Italian former politician who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 12 December 2016 to 1 June 2018. Alfano was Minister of the Interior from 28 April 2013 to 12 December 2016, serving in the ...

, joined the New Centre-Right (NCD) party. The same week, also SC suffered a split, with its minister Mario Mauro leaving the party, founding the

Populars for Italy Populars for Italy ( it, Popolari per l'Italia, PpI) is a Christian-democratic political party in Italy led by Mario Mauro, minister of Defence in Letta Cabinet and, previously, long-serving MEP for Forza Italia. History The party was launched ...

(PpI) and, nevertheless, keeping his post. The Letta government lasted until 22 February 2014 (for a total of 300 days). The government fell apart after the PD retired its support. Since December 2013 the party had been led by Matteo Renzi, the 39-year-old mayor of Florence nicknamed "the scrapper". Renzi succeeded Letta and formed the Renzi government.

Investiture votes

Party breakdown

Beginning of term

Ministers

Ministers and other members

* Democratic Party (PD): Prime minister, 9 ministers, 5 deputy ministers, 12 undersecretaries *

(PdL): 5 ministers, 2 deputy ministers, 10 undersecretaries * Independents: 3 ministers, 2 deputy ministers, 5 undersecretaries *

(SC): 2 ministers, 1 deputy minister, 2 undersecretaries * Union of the Centre (UdC): 1 minister, 1 undersecretary *

(RI): 1 minister * Great South (GS): 1 undersecretary *

Moderates in Revolution Moderates in Revolution ( it, Moderati in Rivoluzione, MIR) is a political association founded in 2012 by the lawyer, banker and entrepreneur Gianpiero Samorì. MIR is currently an associate party of Us with Italy, of whose executive committee S ...

(MiR): 1 undersecretary

End of term

Ministers

Ministers and other members

* Democratic Party (PD): Prime minister, 8 ministers, 4 deputy ministers, 12 undersecretaries * New Centre-Right (NCD): 4 ministers, 1 deputy minister, 7 undersecretaries * Independents: 3 ministers, 2 deputy ministers, 5 undersecretaries *

(SC): 1 minister, 1 deputy minister, 1 undersecretary *

(PpI): 1 minister, 1 undersecretary * Union of the Centre (UdC): 1 minister, 1 undersecretary *

(RI): 1 minister

Council of Ministers

Composition

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cabinet, Letta 2013 establishments in Italy 2014 disestablishments in Italy Cabinets established in 2013 Cabinets disestablished in 2014 Italian governments Grand coalition governments