Italian far-right leader says she is ready to govern

By FRANCES D’EMILIO
Associated Press

ROME (AP) — Italian far-right leader Giorgia Meloni says she and her allies have asked the nation’s president to give her the mandate to assemble a new government. Meloni and her allies met briefly with Sergio Mattarella on Friday. Some observers had expected that she would then announce that he had given her the mandate to try to form a government. Instead, she she said only that the coalition had proposed her as the next premier. An official indicated Mattarella’s decision might be announced later.. If Meloni succeeds in forming a government, Italy would have its first far-right-led government since the end of World War II.