Factbox: New PM Gentiloni keeps most of Renzi's cabinet

(ANSA) - Rome, December 12 - Italy's newly appointed Premier Paolo Gentiloni has kept on most of the same ministers seen in the last government under Matteo Renzi. Some 12 ministers will be continuing in the same role, while one will switch roles (Angelino Alfano) and two others had been undersecretaries. Anna Finocchiaro and Valeria Fedeli will be new.
    A Ministry for the Mezzogiorno (south), which had been urged by many living in Italy's more disadvantaged southern regions, will be a new element. There will no longer be a minister for reforms, a role that had been held by Maria Elena Boschi. Boschi had also been tasked with relations with the parliament, which has now been handed over to Anna Finocchiaro, who had been head of the Constitutional affairs committee of the Senate. Another change is at the ministry for education, where Valeria Fedeli, deputy Senate speaker, will be taking the place of Stefania Giannini. Fedeli, a former trade unionist with CGIL, implies a slight shift to the left of the government. Angelino Alfano will be moving from the interior ministry to the foreign ministry and will be replaced by Marco Minniti, who had been undersecretary to the prime minister tasked with intelligence oversight, a role that will now remain in the premier's hands. A ministry without portfolio will be given to Claudio De Vincenti, who will be leaving the post of undersecretary to the prime minister to Boschi: he will be minister for the Mezzogiorno and territorial cohesion, building on the experience of Fabrizio Barca with Mario Monti's government.
    The ministry for sport will be separated from the culture ministry and given to Luca Lotti, who was undersecretary tasked with publishing industry funds, as well as cabinet secretary, under Renzi. He will be keeping this role, alongside one for the Interministerial Economic Planning Committee (CIPE). All the other ministers will be remaining in their positions: Marianna Madia, Enrico Costa, Andrea Orlando, Roberta Pinotti, Pier Carlo Padoan, Carlo Calenda, Maurizio Martina, Gianluca Galletti, Graziano Delrio, Beatrice Lorenzin, Dario Franceschini and Giuliano Poletti.
    There will be five female ministers and 13 male ones plus Gentiloni. Nevertheless, the government will have more females than the Renzi one since Maria Elena Boschi, the former reforms minister and new cabinet secretary, will be taking part in cabinet meetings. This is the first time that a woman will be holding this role, which has been compared with that of Richelieu and has been held by such key figures as Giannni Letta under Berlusconi and Enrico De Micheli under Prodi. The five female ministers will all be holding important ministries, tasked with public administration, defense, health, education and parliamentary relations. Four of the ministers are from the Popular Area (AP) centre-right group (Alfano, Costa, Lorenzin and Galletti), 11 are from the Democratic Party (PD), and others are not in the PD parliamentary group but are of the same political area (Padoan, Calenda, Poletti and De Vincenti). Within the Democratic Party, the leaders remain those that represent its internal majority: Andrea Orlando (Young Turks), Dario Franceschini (Area Dem) and Maurizio Martina (Left and Change); while Renzi backers include Luca Lotti and Maria Elena Boschi, who are closest to the former premier, and Graziano Delrio, the confirmed transport and infrastructure minister.