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Tajani, 69, who was chosen unanimously by Forza Italia's
national council, faces a hard task reviving the fortunes of a
party whose public support had been dwindling for years even
before Berlusconi's death.
Tajani has spent much of his career outside Italy, serving as a
European Commissioner in Brussels and as president of the
European Parliament. He lacks his predecessor's charisma and is
not among Italy's more popular politicians.
"I am receiving an almost impossible inheritance," he told the
Rome gathering of Forza Italia's national, European and local
representatives.
"It's not easy to lead a political movement that has had Silvio
Berlusconi as its leader for almost 30 years," he said, speaking
on a stage in front of a huge image of Berlusconi.
Forza Italia is the junior partner among the three main parties
in Giorgia Meloni's right-wing government, behind the premier's
own Brothers of Italy and Matteo Salvini's League.
"We want to be the centre of the centre-right," said Tajani, who
has served as foreign minister since the government took office
in October last year.
"We are different from our allies and we don't intend to give up
our identity."
Recent polls put Forza Italia's support at about 7%, behind the
League on around 10% and Brothers of Italy close to 30%.
After beginning his political activity in a tiny monarchist
movement in the 1980s, Tajani joined Forza Italia when it was
founded in 1994 and was Berlusconi's spokesman in his first
government that year.
(Reporting by Gavin Jones; Editing by David Holmes)
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