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Italy\\\'s Renzi sworn in as PM

Saturday, 22 February 2014


Italian center-left leader Matteo Renzi took office on Saturday as his country's youngest prime minister, facing pressure to show immediate results after he forced out his predecessor over the slow pace of economic reforms. The 39-year-old Renzi has named a low-profile list of ministers which included no figures capable of challenging his control of the government. Its success or failure will be seen as his responsibility alone. With an average age of under 48, the 16-member cabinet is one of the smallest and youngest in recent Italian history. Half its members are women, the largest proportion ever, underlining the image of a fresh start on which Renzi has built his reputation. Renzi, who won the leadership of the center-left Democratic Party only in December, forced his party rival Enrico Letta to resign last week after criticizing his failure to move quickly on economic reforms, according to Reuters.