Deputy Prime Minister of Italy

Deputy Prime Minister of Italy
Incumbent Office not in use since 22 February 2014
Council of Ministers
Appointer	President of the Republic
Inaugural holder	Luigi Einaudi, Randolfo Pacciardi, Giuseppe Saragat

The Deputy Prime Minister of Italy, officially Deputy President of the Council of Ministers of the Italian Republic, is a senior member of the Italian Cabinet. The office of the Deputy Prime Minister is not a permanent position, existing only at the discretion of the Prime Minister, who may appoint to other offices to give seniority to a particular Cabinet minister. The office was last held by Angelino Alfano, during Enrico Letta's premiership.

Unlike analogous offices in some other nations, such as a vice-presidency, the Italian deputy prime minister possesses no special constitutional powers as such, though they will always have particular responsibilities in government. They do not assume the duties and powers of the Prime Minister in the latter's absence, illness, or death, such as the powers to seek a dissolution of parliament, appoint peers or brief the President of the Republic.

They do not automatically succeed the Prime Minister, should the latter be incapacitated or resign from the leadership of his or her political party. In practice, however, the designation of someone to the role of Deputy Prime Minister may provide additional practical status within cabinet, enabling the exercise of de facto, if not de jure, power.

In coalition government, as Enrico Letta Grand coalition government between the Democrats and The People of Freedom, the appointment of the secretary of the smaller party (in the 2014 case, Angelino Alfano, secretary of the PdL) as Deputy Prime Minister is done to give that person more authority within the cabinet to enforce the coalition's agreed-upon agenda.

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