????Italy’s president appointed Enrico Letta as premier-designate Wednesday, asking him to form a coalition government representing Italy’s main parties to end two months of political unstability ????and put the country back on the path of reform and growth. Letta may end political paralysis in Italy NEW Italian Prime Minister-designate Enrico Letta said he will immediately begin working on moving beyond the country’s “fragile and unprecedented” political situation to recover support for an Italian political class he said “has lost all credibility.” ????Italian President Giorgio Napolitano, reappointed for a second term Saturday, tapped Letta, a veteran center-left lawmaker, for the job Wednesday, bringing to an end a political stalemate that lasted more than eight weeks since an inconclusive result to Italy’s elections in February. ????Letta, a 46-year-old center-left lawmaker and No. 2 Democratic Party leader, said he accepted the job knowing it’s an enormous responsibility. He is the second-youngest Italian prime minister ever, and Italians said they hoped his youth would signal a change in the longtime status quo for a country that has suffered from two decades of weak economic growth. ????“I find it absurd that Italy has for so long been led by leaders in their 70s and 80s,” said Gianpiero Cognoli, a Rome-based professional actor. “I hope a new generation can finally bring about some meaningful change. Italy needs it.” ????Letta said his main priority was to address the “enormous, unbearable” economic emergency in the eurozone’s third-largest economy: Italy has been in recession for more than a year, and unemployment is at 11.6 percent with youth unemployment at 37.8 percent. ????Letta represents something of a new generation in Italian politics after the traditional guard has been discredited by scandals, infighting and inertia. In a perhaps scripted but nevertheless significant gesture, Letta drove himself to the presidential palace to accept the job as premier in his own Fiat. Normally politicians are driven around town with an accompanying motorcade. ????“Somebody has to help pull us out of this mess we’re in,” said Antonello Constantino, 40, a Roman coffee bar worker. ????Letta’s improbable candidacy came after the chief of his Democratic Party, Pier Luigi Bersani, resigned after failing to form a government following inconclusive February elections and then failing to unite the party behind a candidate for president. ????Bersani had refused to deal with Berlusconi, preventing the possibility of a coalition government. ????Letta is a moderate figure along the lines of Bersani, to whom he has been a loyal deputy since 2009, firmly backing him in last fall’s primaries against Florence Mayor Matteo Renzi. ????And he has one trump card: his uncle Gianni Letta is a close aide to Berlusconi, a relationship that could prove a key to shoring up a grand coalition among very uneasy partners. ????Italy’s current premier, Mario Monti, hailed the selection of Letta and said he hoped he swiftly wins parliamentary approval for his government. “With the responsible support of the political forces, Premier Letta will be able to consolidate Italy’s international credibility,” Monti said in a statement. ????After weeks of fruitless negotiations, the appointment of Letta capped a flurry of activity in recent days that started when Napolitano, 87, was convinced Saturday to sign on for a second seven-year term despite his desire to retire. On Monday, he chastised lawmakers for allowing the impasse to last so long, wagging his finger. Voice cracking with emotion, he threatened to leave if a government was not formed soon. Two days later, Letta was appointed. ????“It felt good to have Napolitano stay on,” said Flavia Fiorentina, an archaeologist with the Rome city government. “We needed an experienced hand to lead this process, and now we have the result. I really hope the new government will be a success.” ????Letta’s first order of business will be to appoint ministers to his government — he said he would start consultations for this step Thursday. Once appointed, the new government will face a confidence vote in the same deadlocked parliament elected two months ago. He must pass that vote to take power. ????Napolitano said he had received assurances that the two biggest blocs in Parliament would support Letta. ????“It is the only possible solution,” Napolitano said, calling Letta the figure who could rally “a broad convergence of the political forces that can assure a majority in both houses to the government.” ????His general plan of government has been sketched out by a 10-member committee of “wise men” Napolitano appointed this month. ????“The new government will operate with what we call a ‘pre-agreed program,’” said Stefano Quintarelli, one of 344 first-time parliamentarians elected in February’s vote. “It’s anyone’s guess how it will play out in the end, but the hope is that a wider base of support will form and that the government can stay in power for a year or two and make some needed reforms.” ????Letta ostensibly enjoys the backing of the center-right coalition led by billionaire media tycoon and three-time premier Berlusconi and the centrist party led by Monti, but experts said it is not clear how such an alliance will work in practical terms. ????“There is not much the different sides agree on,” said James Walston, a political scientist with the American University of Rome. “You could go down the list policy by policy, and there’s rarely a consensus. ????“They’re going to have to muddle through, that much is clear,” Walston said. “But I don’t know how long that could last.” ????For now at least, the reception to Napolitano’s reappointment and the selection of Letta has been positive. Italian government bond yields (a measure of investor confidence in the country’s economic health) fell for the third straight session Wednesday, reaching their lowest level since 2010. Stock prices have similarly rallied. ????“I don’t think investors are reacting to any specific policies,” said Javier Noriega, chief economist with investment bankers Hildebrandt and Ferrar. “But there’s a palatable sense of relief that this drawn out crisis has ended. But this is really where the hard part begins, at least for those in charge.” ????Letta was born in Pisa on Aug. 20, 1966 and studied political sciences and international law at a time when he was an active member of the Christian Democratic party, which eventually collapsed in a storm of corruption scandals. ????Letta has had a long history in government. In 1998, he became the youngest government minister in Italy’s history when then-Premier Massimo D’Alema named him minister for European policy. He had other ministerial posts in subsequent center-left governments and in 2008 won a Parliament seat with the newly formed Democratic Party. ????He has written several books about European policy and studied international law before entering politics. ????Letta has admitted to a fondness for popular Italian comic “Dylan Dog” — the adventures of a womanizing sleuth specialized in the paranormal. “I wanted to be like him,” he told one interviewer. ????Letta is also a big fan of British rock band Dire Straits and Italian pop-rockers Nomadi. ????He has been married twice and has three children. ????(SD-Agencies) | 