ROME – Italy’s new populist Prime Minister designate, Giuseppe Conte, continued to hold talks on Friday as he prepared a list of cabinet ministers for the Five Star Movement-League coalition government.

 He met with the governor of the Bank of Italy, Ignazio Visco, for an hour and a half after Thursday’s meeting, where he spoke to representatives of investors who had lost their money in a series of recent bank crises.

 Conte left the meeting in a taxi followed by his escort, and announced in a Facebook post: “I told them that protecting their savings, which are often the fruit of sacrifice and a life of hard work, will be one of this government of change's main tasks.”

 Conte has also scheduled a summit with the anti-establishment M5S leader, Luigi Di Maio, and the Northern League’s Federal Secretary, Matteo Salvini, to discuss and decide who will be the cabinet ministers in their coalition government.

 Tension seems to be growing over a few of the choices, in particular 82-year-old Paolo Savona, a Eurosceptic economist who could become Italy’s Minister of Economy and Finances.

 While Di Maio and Salvini are very much for the decision, other political parties and Mattarella seem less keen, and as Head of State he has the last say.

 When asked to comment by journalists, Savona said: "I have nothing to say, silence today is worth more than talking."

 Conte, a 54-year-old law professor from Puglia with no political experience, was given a mandate by Italy’s president, Sergio Mattarella, on Wednesday to try to form a government after the inconclusive election results on March 4. 

 fct