Berlusconi forms Italy government

Berlusconi officially becomes PM once Ciampi approves choices

ROME, Italy -- Italian prime minister-designate Silvio Berlusconi has officially formed the country's 59th post-war government.

In a ceremony at Rome's presidential palace on Sunday, the media magnate submitted a list of the cabinet ministers who will form the new government to President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi.

The move came a day after Ciampi formally gave Berlusconi the mandate to govern.

The centre-right leader named Renato Ruggiero, the former head of the World Trade Organisation, as foreign minister and Giulio Tremonti as the economy minister, combining roles in finance and the treasury.

The leader of the right-wing National Alliance party, Gianfranco Fini, was appointed deputy prime minister.

Roberton Castelli, of the formerly-separatist Northern League, was chosen as justice minister, according to Italian news agencies.

Berlusconi officially becomes prime minister once Ciampi has approved the Cabinet choices.

The government could be sworn in as early as Monday, with both houses of parliament then holding a vote of confidence. The conservatives won solid majorities in both houses in the national elections on May 13.

Berlusconi has had to work hard to juggle ministerial positions among his coalition partners, with all the main parties demanding top posts.

Fini and Northern League leader Umberto Bossi, two of the tycoon's closest allies, were disappointed when he chose the head of a small centrist party and a prominent member of his own Forza Italia party as parliament speakers.

Fini and Bossi were also in Berlusconi's conservative coalition when he served as prime minister in 1994, but the government collapsed after seven months when Bossi withdrew his support.