Rome - Italian prime minister-elect Silvio Berlusconi's new government - Italy's 62nd in 62 years - was scheduled to be sworn in later Thursday.

The ceremony was planned for 1500 GMT in Rome.

On Wednesday, Italian President Giorgio Napolitano handed the 71-year-old billionaire-turned-politician Berlusconi a mandate as prime minister, three weeks following the centre-right's triumph in parliamentary elections.

"Now we can go back to work after an interruption of two years," said Berlusconi.

He was referring to his last stint in office which ended in April 2006 when he lost elections to the centre-left led by outgoing Prime Minister Romano Prodi.

Following his meeting with the president, Berlusconi unveiled his proposed 21-member cabinet which includes the European Union's current top security official, Franco Frattini, as foreign minister.

Another key appointment is Giulio Tremonti as economy minister - a return to the post which he held in Berlusconi's last government in 2006.

A more controversial choice was the appointment of former reforms minister, Roberto Calderoli from the anti-immigration Northern League, as one of nine ministers not assigned to a specific department.

Calderoli will fill the newly created position of minister to simplify legislation. He was forced to resign in 2006 after appearing on television wearing a T-shirt decorated with a satirical cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed.

Last week Libyan President Moamer Gaddafi's son, Saif el-Islam, warned of "catastrophic consequences" for Italy's relations with Libya if Calderoli joined the new cabinet.

Eleven people were killed in rioting near the Italian consulate in the Libyan city Benghazi in February 2006, just days after Calderoli's appearance on television with the offending T-shirt.

Announcing his appointments on Wednesday evening, Berlusconi, maintained a pledge to limit the number of ministers with departments to 12, and kept a promise to appoint "at least four" women to the cabinet.

These include former television showgirl Mara Carfagna as equal opportunities minister, Maria Stella Gelmini as education minister, Stefania Prestigiacomo as environment minister, and Giorgia Meloni as minister-in-charge of relations with parliament.

By comparison, six women served in Prodi's outgoing cabinet which totalled 26 ministers.

Other notable appointments on Wednesday included the leader of the Northern League, Umberto Bossi, who as the new reform minister is likely to be able to push his party's federalist agenda.

Ignazio La Russa from the post-Fascist National Alliance - which merged with Berlusconi's People of Freedom party in the elections - was named defence minister, while another Northern League member, Roberto Maroni, takes over as interior minister.

The government will need to win confidence votes in parliament's two houses - the upper Senate and the lower Chamber of Deputies.

With Berlusconi and his centre-right allies enjoying a comfortable majority in both houses, the process is expected to be completed by the end of next week.

Berlusconi first served as prime minister in 1994-95, when his government collapsed after nine months because of internal differences.

He regained power in the April 2001 elections and remained in office for five years, the longest term in post-World War II Italian history. (dpa)