Five women are among the names floated to lead a transitional government in Italy in what some speculate could be President Sergio Mattarella’s attempt to break with tradition while the country’s politics are mired in stalemate.

Mattarella is seeking a neutral government after rival parties failed to establish a working coalition during a last-ditch attempt on Monday to end the political deadlock that resulted from inconclusive elections on 4 March.

The 76-year-old is expected to name a prime minister on Wednesday to deal with matters such as approving the 2019 budget before fresh elections are held at the end of the year.

Names mentioned in the Italian media on Tuesday included Elisabetta Belloni, the foreign ministry’s secretary general, and Marta Cartabia, the deputy head of the constitutional court.

There is also speculation that Lucrezia Reichlin, an economist, Anna Maria Tarantola, a former director of the Bank of Italy and former president of the national broadcaster Rai, and Fabiola Gianotti, the first female director of the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN), are in the running.

Carlo Cottarelli, a former executive director at the International Monetary Fund, is among the male candidates named.

“[Nominating a woman] could really be a window of opportunity for [Mattarella] to try and change some traditions and conventions during a really extraordinary moment in Italian politics,” said Massimiliano Panarari, a politics professor at the Guido Carli Free International University for Social Studies in Rome.

“It is a way to appeal to public opinion. The majority of the Italian population is female, but until now this hasn’t corresponded with representation in the political system. So I think there is an idea – not PR, as that would be too cheap – to enlarge representation while providing a sort of exit strategy from the crisis, and one that could change the discourse.”

Italy’s two populist parties, the Five Star Movement (M5S) and Lega, which together secured over 50% of the vote in the March elections, have called for snap elections, which could scupper Mattarella’s plan.



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After his nominee is sworn into office he or she will face a parliamentary vote of confidence, which would be likely to take place next week. Only the centre-left Democratic party backs Mattarella’s plan for a technocratic government, and if the selected premier fails the confidence vote, then Mattarella would need to dissolve parliament with elections to follow.

Luigi Di Maio, the leader of M5S, which emerged as the biggest single party in March with 33% of the vote, and Matteo Salvini, the leader of the far-right Lega which was the winner within a centre-right coalition that secured 37%, are calling for elections as early as 8 July. A summer vote would be unprecedented for Italy.

“Proposing elections on 8 July would be a nightmare,” said Catia Polidori, an MP with Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia, a partner in the centre-right alliance.

“People won’t vote, they’ll be at the beach. But Italians don’t want a technocratic government. We need to respect their vote. The centre-right alliance got the biggest share and so should be responsible for forming a government.”