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.(theguardian)…[+]