Giuseppe Conte, An Understated Pick To Lead Italy's Populist Government

Rome, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 22nd May, 2018 ) :Little-known lawyer and academic, Giuseppe Conte is set for a dramatic debut in the cut-throat world of Italian politics, as prime minister to lead an anti-establishment, far-right coalition government.

The elegant 54-year-old hails from the populist Five Star Movement (M5S) after reportedly turning his back on the country's left. "I used to vote left. Today, I think that the ideologies of the 20th century are no longer adequate (for 21st century politics)," Conte has been quoted as saying by Italian media.

Five star leader Luigi Di Maio said he was "very proud to present this name" as he left the presidential palace on Monday afternoon. "He will not be a burden for the Italian people," Di Maio said.

Di Maio had initially presented Conte as part of his team of ministers ahead of the March 4 general election, putting him in charge of simplifying the country's infamous bureaucracy.

That was the general public's first and so far only encounter with the discreet lawyer, who remained invisible in the government talks that saw Five Star and the far-right League party strike a coalition deal after inconclusive elections.

Franco Pavoncello, a political scientist and president of Rome's John Cabot University who knows Conte thanks to the PM candidate's position on the institution's board of trustees, told AFP that he is "a man of integrity".

"I don't believe that he will go against his own conscience. He's not a man who's going to make himself feel uncomfortable in terms of making decisions," said Pavoncello.