Benoeming nieuwe minister van financiën zorgt voor onenigheid binnen Italiaanse regeringscoalitie (en)

Head of the treasury Domenico Siniscalco has been named Italy's new finance minister, but his nomination has been opposed by members within the governing coalition and by the parties in opposition.

Mr Siniscalco, 50, was named two weeks after the resignation of the former minister Giulio Tremonti.

Italy's prime minister Silvio Berlusconi had taken up the tasks himself for an interim period, but he faced pressure from the other parties in the government to immediately choose Mr Tremonti's successor.

However, the right-wing party Lega Nord, who was hoping for Mr Tremonti's return, has reacted fiercely to the nomination.

Over the weekend, the party's leader Umberto Bossi has threatened to leave the government to take a seat in the European Parliament.

Mr Berlusconi, who is facing the task of trying to keep his four-party coalition together, might have to persuade the Northern League to stay by passing a bill that gives more self-rule to the country's prosperous northern regions, the FT reports.