His Excellency announced his fresh cabinet; he seemed very strained during the congress
Hugo Vespa-Baldassare, as per ULD tradition, announced his cabinet plan for the next term, as usually in the last quarter of the year preceding the election. The congress was shorter than usual (lasting two days), however, it appeared way more noteworthy than most preceding it. Not only was the list of Vice-Chairpeople revised, but also the ministers were a big shocker to many, leading up to hours upon hours of speculation and brainstorming, as well as countless theories. Everything that the media outlets came up with, however, was swiftly countered by Vespa-Baldassare by saying that
We want stability.
Tthe candidate for Foreign Affairs - Grimaldo Simonette. As minister of Internal affairs, he frequented many meetings of the Majatran Union and other international organizations that Istalia is a part of. Although most expected him to keep his seat as minister of Internal Affairs, he replaced Adriano Manfrin as the candidate for Minister of Foreign Affairs.
The candidate for Internal Affairs - Antero Reale. The once-candidate for Minister of Infrastructure and Transport took a big jump to become the candidate for minister of Internal Affairs, dubbed as the most important minister (though for the ULD, that would be the minister of finance). He heads the Party's structures in Padagna, served as mayor of Genevia (now he leads the ULD in the local parliament). He has a lot of experience in administration, and is dubbed as a wise choice.
The candidate for Finance - Ilia Geroferrato. A pretty big surprise, due to her way softer language and young age for a politcian. However, she did head, well, a bank for a few years, and is related to Giovanni Geroferrato once a member of the race for the party's presidential candidate and ex-national coordinator. She is, yet again, deemed as a logical choice.
The candidate for Defence - Diana Falanga. She did serve in the army, one of the very few ULD members to do so, and she does have experience in this field (however, she served as a medic). She is also the Mayor of Ulbia and also headed the party's youth wing for two months.
The candidate for Justice - Khaira Niazi. The third president of the ULD to be nominated for this seat, meaning that all were, at one point, expected to become the ministers of Justice. She is a lawyer and constitutionalist, she seved as the party's justice speaker.
The candidate for Infrastructure and Transport - Faust Adriani. The party's finance speaker, vice-minister of Finance, owner of multiple housing companies. Adriani also began his career in the ULD as an advisor to Manfrin, when he served as the minister of Infrastructure and Transport.
The candidate for Health and Social Services -Qhizma Nassar. She is a doctor (neurologist), a physician and chemist. She was the party's Deputies LEader and the resident of the Chamber of Deputies, and the current minister of Health and Social Services.
The candidate for Education and Culture - Elena Vespa-Baldassare. The daughter of Vespa-Baldassare, she headed not only the party's youth wing but she''s also an art historian, she de-facto ran her father's art collection, as well as, on his behalf, invested in various works of culture. She ran a pretty popular show about culture on her father's news network and appeared in many talk-shows. She's also a big social media influencer.
The candidate for Science and Technology - Islam Shamon-Baz. Once again, Shamon-Baz would assume the role of minister of Science and Technology. The party delegate and Manfrin's student would also be expected to become a Deputy Prime Minister alongside Simonette.
The candidate for Food and Agriculture - Carmen din Asa. Once the candidate for minister of Environment and Tourism, now she would assume the role of minister of Food and Agriculture. She's a senator and serves as the leader of a small anti-Issa faction within the ULD, actually.
The candidate for Environment and Tourism - Anastasio Balotelli. Probably the biggest surprise of the night, greeted with the biggest pause before the start of the wave of claps and ovations. This decision shocked many, and, according to specialists, makes no sense; other than the fact that Balotelli, on the night before his introduction to the role of candidate-for-minister announced a plan for reworking Istalia's tourism sector. He is also a military historian and owns a few hotels, so it is to assume that he will mostly focus on the "tourism" part of his possible future title if he is to assume it.
The candidate for Trade and Industry - Gianluigi Manzella. The Deputies Whip, also a man of not-so-sharp views and comments, is deemed as a very responsible man. He, due to his role in the party, is considered one of the more influential politicians in the ULD, and could potentially become the next Petralia.
Due to the nature of the newly proposed cabinet proposal, many speculations also regard the big missing piece: Adriano Manfrin. He was expected to either replace Petralia, or at least retain his role as candidate for minister of Foreign Affairs. However, that didn't happen, instead, he was replaced by Simonette, a younger, less radical politician. Some say that that is due to the fact that Vespa-Baldassare wishes to carve his place within the party and as his successor to be even safer, while others say that this may mean a change of preference to the aforementioned Simonette or even Adriani. We tried to contact the gentlemen themselves, to practically no avail.
Simonette only noted that Manfrin is "very good at what he does in Parliament", and that he thinks that losing him as the Deputy Chairperson would be a "big loss to the party"