The head of the leftist Democratic Party, Matteo Renzi speaks to reporters at Quirinale Palace in Rome on Feb. 17, 2014.
Center-left leader Matteo Renzi was asked to form a new Italian government on Monday, paving the way for him to become the country’s youngest ever Prime Minister.
President Giorgio Napolitano asked Renzi, 39, to form a new parliamentary coalition after the former premier Enrico Letta was pushed out in a Democratic Party (PD) coup Friday, USA Today reports.
Renzi, the mayor of Florence, is a political neophyte on the national stage, and has promised bold economic reform for the economically struggling euro zone country. Italy saw just a 0.1% GDP growth in the fourth quarter of 2013.
The Tuscan politician would be the third prime minister in a row nominated by Napolitano without having won an election, as Italy reels from political scandals including the one that embroiled former center-right President Silvio Berlusconi, who was convicted last year for tax fraud.