Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti yesterday said he was ready to govern the country again as head of a pro-reform coalition in favor of change in Italy and Europe, but would not be a candidate in the February election.
“If one or more political forces adhere to my agenda and put forward the idea of proposing me for the post of prime minister, I would weigh the option,” he said at a news conference following his resignation on Friday.
Monti cannot officially be on the ballot for the Feb. 24 to Feb. 25 vote because he is already a senator for life, but under Italy’s electoral system, he could be asked to join the government, even as prime minister, by whoever wins.
“I am ready to give my approval, my encouragement and, if called to, my leadership” to those parties who get behind the reforms, Monti said.
Monti outlined a program to “change Italy and reform Europe,” saying that the main point was not to turn the clock back on austerity measures and reforms and thereby “destroy the sacrifices that everyone has made this year.”
A former economics professor and high-flying European commissioner, the 69-year-old urged more reforms of Italy’s “archaic” labor laws, an overhaul of the painfully slow justice system and more equal opportunities for women.
Monti also took on billionaire media tycoon and former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, saying that his predecessor, who is running in his sixth election in two decades, had made proposals — including the abolition of a new property tax — that were “very dangerous and illusory.”
Monti defended his record after 13 months in government, saying Italy — battling a 2 trillion euro (US$2.64 trillion) debt mountain — had managed to extract itself from the eurozone debt crisis without resorting to an international bailout.
“The financial crisis has been overcome,” he said.
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
RSS