Andreotti attempts to form his Govt

Press, 11 July 1989, Page 10

Andreotti attempts to form his Govt

NZPA-Reuter Rome The Italian Prime Min-ister-designate, Giulio Andreotti, has begun attempts to form his sixth Government in a climate more optimistic than at any time in the last eight weeks of political crisis. The 70-year-old Christian Democrat bounced back to centre stage on Sunday, 10 years after his last stint as Prime Minister, when President Francesco Cossiga asked him to try to resolve a dispute among the five coalition parties and form Italy’s forty-ninth post-war Government. “I really believe that the political conditions exist to reform the fiveparty coalition,” Mr Andreotti told reporters after receiving the mandate. But Mr Andreotti, who has been Foreign Minister since 1983, said he did not expect to represent Italy at the summit conference of the seven industrialised countries in Paris on Friday in the role of Prime Minister. “No matter how optimistic I may be, I don’t think anyone believes you can form a Government in 3*4 days,” he said. Mr Andreotti held brief meetings with the presidents (speakers) of the two Houses of Parliament. But many of the obstacles that prevented a fellow Christian Democrat, Ciriaco de Mita, from resurrecting his coalition Government appear to have been cleared