The deputy prime minister of Italy, officially the vice-president of the Council of Ministers of the Italian Republic (

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

: ''Vicepresidente del Consiglio dei ministri della Repubblica Italiana''), is a senior member of the Italian Cabinet. Moreover, it is often colloquially known as ''vicepremier''. The office of the Deputy Prime Minister is not a permanent position, existing only at the discretion of the

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

, who may appoint to other offices to give seniority to a particular Cabinet minister. The office is currently held by

Matteo Salvini Matteo Salvini (; born 9 March 1973) is an Italian politician who has been serving as Deputy Prime Minister of Italy and Italian Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Minister of Infrastructure and Transport since 2022. He has been List of F ...

and

Antonio Tajani Antonio Tajani (; born 4 August 1953) is an Italian politician who has been serving as Deputy Prime Minister of Italy and Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Foreign Affairs since 22 October 2022. He served as President of the Europe ...

under

Giorgia Meloni Giorgia Meloni (; born 15 January 1977) is an Italian politician who has served as Prime Minister of Italy since 2022. She is the first woman to hold the office. A member of the Chamber of Deputies (Italy), Chamber of Deputies since 2006, s ...

's premiership. The office is not mentioned in the Constitution. Its role is defined by statutory provisions, most importantly article 8 of law no. 400 of 1998 (

: ''legge n. 400 del 1998''). The Deputy Prime Minister assumes the powers of the Prime Minister if the latter becomes unable to discharge his or her duties. In case none was appointed Deputy Prime Minister, it is the eldest Minister who takes upon the role of the Prime Minister in such cases; meanwhile, if there are multiple Deputy Prime Ministers serving at the same time, it falls upon the eldest of them who does so. The Deputy Prime Minister does not automatically succeed the Prime Minister in case the latter resigns, as conventionally, in the aftermath of a resignation, the outgoing Prime Minister remains in place to handle day-to-day business until Parliament picks a successor. In practice, the designation of someone to the role of Deputy Prime Minister may also provide additional practical status within cabinet, enabling the exercise of '' de facto'', if not ''

de jure In law and government, ''de jure'' (; ; ) describes practices that are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. The phrase is often used in contrast with '' de facto'' ('from fa ...

'', power. In a coalition government, as

Enrico Letta Enrico Letta (; born 20 August 1966) is an Italian politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy The prime minister of Italy, officially the president of the Council of Ministers (), is the head of government of the Italy, Italian Republ ...

Grand coalition A grand coalition is an arrangement in a multi-party parliamentary system in which the two largest political party, political parties of opposing political spectrum, political ideologies unite in a coalition government. Causes of a grand coali ...

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

between the Democrats and

The People of Freedom The People of Freedom (, PdL) was a centre-right political party in Italy. The PdL launched by Silvio Berlusconi as an electoral list, including and National Alliance, on 27 February for the 2008 Italian general election. The list was later t ...

, the appointment of the secretary of the smaller party (in the 2014 case,

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

, secretary of the PdL) as Deputy Prime Minister is done to give that person more authority within the cabinet to enforce the coalition's agreed-upon agenda.Vice-Presidente del Consiglio – Angelino Alfano
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List of deputy prime ministers

Kingdom of Italy

; Parties: *1944–1946: ** ** ** ** ;Coalitions: * **

Italian Republic

; Parties: *1946–1994: ** ** ** ** ** *1994–present: ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ;Coalitions: * ** ** ** ** * ** ** **

Timeline

References

{{Authority control Politics of Italy 1947 establishments in Italy

List of deputy prime ministers

Kingdom of Italy

Italian Republic

Timeline

See also

References