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Rome: Even though a former showgirl and a lawmaker once voted "Miss Parliament" are among the female ministers in Italy's new government, critics are panning Silvio Berlusconi for not being "pink" enough.
Berlusconi managed to keep his election pledge of naming at least four women ministers, weeks after he dismissed Spain's women-majority cabinet as "too pink" and declared it was hard to find qualified women in Italian politics.
Only two women are among the 12 ministers to hold first-tier posts, taking over environment and education. The other two will look after equal opportunities and youth affairs, which are among the nine ministries without portfolio.
"The women ministers in Berlusconi's government are truly few - 4 out of 21 - so less than a fifth," said Vittoria Franco, a centre-left senator now in opposition. "There are four of them in posts that are traditionally more feminine. It's a clear backwards step on the equal opportunities front."
Perhaps reflecting the new prime minister's attitudes, the Italian media concentrated on the female ministers' looks and relative youth - their ages range from 31 to 41 - in Italy's geriatric political class. "Young, beautiful and ambitious - Silvio's four dames", headlined Milan daily il Giorno. Il Giornale, owned by Berlusconi's brother, called them his "Four Musketeers".
Equal Opportunities Minister Mara Carfagna, who placed sixth in the 1997 Miss Italy pageant, is best known as a former showgirl on television.
Environment Minister Stefania Prestigiacomo's good looks earned her the "Miss Parliament" title in the 1990s and the goodwill of her leftist rivals.
A popular comedian once proclaimed she was the best thing in Italian politics.
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