President Sergio Mattarella is
expected to give Senate Speaker Elisabetta Alberti Casellati an
exploratory mandate to seek ways to end Italy's post-election
political deadlock after calling her to his office on Wednesday.
Italy does not look close to having a new government a month
and a half after its inconclusive election on March 4.
Last week Mattarella said the political parties had not made
significant progress towards the formation of a new government
after a second round of formal political consultations.
The anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S), the biggest
single party in the new parliament, is refusing to do a deal
with the centre right, the biggest coalition.
The M5S has called on the anti-migrant, Euroskeptic League,
the lead party in the centre right, to drop its ally, Silvio
Berlusconi's Forza Italia, to make a deal possible, but so far
it has refused.
The centre-left Democratic Party (PD), which has led the last
three Italian governments, has said it will be in the opposition
after it slumped to its worst-ever showing in last month's vote.
Casellati is a FI member.
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