Meloni set to be sworn in as premier on Saturday.

Giorgia Meloni, leader of the far-right Fratelli d'Italia party, is set to become Italy's first woman prime minister after Italian president Sergio Mattarella on Friday offered her the mandate to form a government.

Meloni's coalition partners in government are the right-wing Lega led by Matteo Salvini and the centre-right Forza Italia led by Silvio Berlusconi, part of a rightist alliance that triumphed in the recent general election.

The new government is set to be sworn in at the Quirinale on Saturday 22 October at 10.00.

Salvini is to be deputy premier and transport minister, with the finance portfolio going to the Lega's Giancarlo Giorgetti and foreign affairs going to Antonio Tajani of Forza Italia.

Meloni, 45, succeeds Mario Draghi who in his last news conference as premier on Friday said that Italy must remain "at the centre of the European project".

Meloni received the mandate to form a government despite a controversy earlier this week over leaked audio in which Berlusconi spoke of renewed ties with Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Berlusconi's comments prompted Meloni to stress that her new government would be pro-NATO and fully a part of Europe, and that whoever disagreed with this line could not be part of the government.

Photo Il Messaggero