Image copyright EPA Image caption President Mattarella urged parties to rally behind a "neutral government"

Italy's coalition-building talks have failed, leaving the country facing fresh elections or a neutral caretaker government until the end of the year.

President Sergio Mattarella said on Monday that those were the only two options left after a third round of negotiations were unsuccessful.

No single party or alliance won a majority in the March general election.

The most influential parties, Five Star and The League, favour a new vote in July. Mr Mattarella has the final say.

Following the latest round of talks aimed at forming a coalition, the biggest single party, the anti-establishment Five Star movement, could not agree on joining forces either with the right-wing alliance of Forza Italia and The League or with the centre-left Democratic Party.

Previous attempts to break the deadlock since the inconclusive result on 4 March also came to nothing, with the parties' starting positions reportedly remaining unchanged.

In a televised public statement on Monday, Mr Mattarella urged party leaders to rally behind a "neutral government" after conceding that there would be no coalition deal.

"We can't wait any longer," he said.

"Let the parties decide of their own free will if they should give full powers to a government... or else new elections in the month of July or the autumn."

A caretaker administration would be made up of policy experts appointed by the president.

It would have the responsibility of drawing up a 2019 budget with the aim of avoiding the possible "recessionary effects" of a scheduled increase in sales taxes later in the year, Mr Marrarella said.

Such a government would run until the end of the year and would then dissolve ahead of elections to be held at the start of 2019, Mr Mattarella added.

However, neither the Five Star movement nor The League have yet shown any interest in supporting the move.</s>Lawmakers must accept a caretaker government that will administer a revote, Italy's president Sergio Mattarella said on Monday after his last-ditch talks with political leaders failed to broker a deal on a viable government.

The cabinet of centre-left premier Paolo Gentiloni cannot continue in office "as it represents a parliamentary majority that no longer exists," , Mattarella stated.

"I belive it is better to move towards fresh elections under a caretaker government," he said.

Mattarella ruled out a snap vote in June, saying there was not enough time to organise one. But he did not rule out July polls, which the leaders of Italy's populist Five-Star Movement and the far-right League party are now urging.

"An election could be held at the height of summer, but until now this has been avoided as it is a difficult time for Italians to vote, but a date could be set in the autumn," Mattarella stated.

Five-Star leader Luigi Di Maio and League leader Matteo Salvini said on Monday a new national ballot should be held on 8 July - a demand that one of the centre-left Democratic Party's founders, lawmaker Ettore Rosato, slammed as "arrogant".

Five Star is the largest party and the League is the dominant party in the centre-right alliance - the biggest parliamentary bloc - after the inconclusive 4 March vote in which populist, rightwing parties made strong gains.

The Democratic Party's centre-left coalition, which has ruled Italy since 2013, came a distant third in the March vote and declined to take the Five-Star Movement into government during previous failed talks.</s>President Sergio Mattarella's last-ditch attempt to broker a government appeared to fall flat Monday, putting Italy on course for a caretaker government or even fresh polls just two months after inconclusive elections.

Italian politics has been deadlocked since the March 4 general election resulted in parliament being occupied by three minority blocs, unable or unwilling to work together.

Mattarella called separate meetings with rival political leaders at his Quirinale palace, in what was seen as a last-ditch effort to get them to agree on a government coalition.

A right-wing coalition led by the far-right League party topped the March 4 polls with 37 percent of the vote, while the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S) became Italy's largest single party with almost 33 percent. The center-left Democratic Party came a distant third, with less than 19 percent. Neither group has the numbers to form a majority government and both have been tussling for power since the election.

Over the weekend the M5S leader, Luigi Di Maio and League chief Matteo Salvini seemed to have made some progress but after a new round of consultations with the president Monday, deadlock appeared insurmountable.

Speaking after his meeting with Mattarella, Di Maio said he was willing to forgo the premiership in order to come to an accord with the League.

"I am prepared to choose a different prime minister who would forge a government contract (with the League)," he said.

The far-right League and the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S) agree that Italy should hold new elections on July 8. League leader Matteo Salvini suggested the date after meeting with M5S leader Luigi Di Maio. When journalists asked him whether Di Maio was also in favour of a July 8 vote, Salvini said "yes."

But for any potential deal to work, Di Maio insists that Salvini's coalition partner, former premier Silvio Berlusconi and his Forza Italia party must play no role in the new government, limiting themselves to outside support only.

Salvini said he was confident he could win over the missing votes - some 50 in the 630-member lower assembly, and 21 in the 320-member Senate - but did not say how.

The M5S regards Berlusconi's party as the symbol of Italy's political corruption.

Di Maio also stated that his party would refuse to back a caretaker government and that if no majority emerged the country must "return to the polls," a stance he shares with League leader Salvini.

Following his meeting with the president, Salvini also declared that he was ready to "participate in a new government which would start to solve the country's problems."

But he remained firm in his refusal to break up his coalition and ditch Berlusconi.

Instead he proposed he be given a mandate to form a minority government which would need the support of a few dozen MPs from smaller parties in parliament.

Press reports suggest Mattarella would be unlikely to do so without guarantees a majority could be reached.

The President is expected to name a caretaker government, similar to that of economist Mario Monti from 2011 to 2013, that would be tasked with restoring Italy's role on the world stage and running the country at least until the 2019 budget is passed.

He is thought to be looking for a neutral but competent figure, perhaps a woman, with press speculation running wild.

Several academics have been touted for the job by the media, including female candidates like economist Lucrezia Reichlin and constitutional court judge Marta Cartabia.

Italy has never had a female prime minister.

A "government of the president" would likely be tasked with drafting next year's budget law and help parliament draft a new election law to minimize chances of a deadlock after the next elections.

It would also have to engage in sensitive negotiations with European Union partners on migration, eurozone reforms and budget issues - all of the agenda of a Brussels summit in late June.

But with M5S and the League staunchly opposed to the idea, putting together a caretaker government will be no easy feat.

Lina Palmerini, analyst at the business daily Il Sole 24 Ore, said Mattarella has few options, warning: "If parliament rejects the president's government, the situation will be very difficult."

Pollster Lorenzo Pregliasco said voter surveys suggested new elections would not change the balance of forces. "No one will win a majority."</s>Rome, May 7 (IANS/AKI) Italy’s President Sergio Mattarella on Monday began a final round of talks with party leaders aimed at forming a coalition government after the inconclusive March 4 national election led to political deadlock.

Mattarella on Monday held final talks with the conservative coalition – including Forza Italia, the far-right League party and the rightwing Brothers of Italy party – as well as with the populist Five-Star Movement, the centre-left Democratic Party and other Italian parties.

He was due to wrap up consultations with a meeting with the lower house of parliament Speaker Roberto Fico and with Senate speaker Maria Elisabetta Alberti Casellati, according to a schedule published on the presidential palace website.

If Monday’s talks fail, Mattarella is expected to propose a transitional government, most likely led by a non-political figure. Such an executive would be tasked with approving the 2019 budget before new elections are held, probably in the autumn, according to analysts.

Successive rounds of talks held by Mattarella, Fico and Casellati with Italy’s main political forces since the March poll collapsed amid increasingly fractious stalemate and a mesh of seemingly irreconcilable demands.

However, Forza Italia party and its coalition allies oppose a caretaker cabinet and want to try and muster a parliamentary majority, party sources told AKI after their talks with Mattarella.

Luigi Di Maio, leader of Five-Star – Italy’s largest party since the March 4 national vote – has demanded fresh elections be held in July if Mattarella fails to broker an agreement to form a viable government.

Mattarella is seeking to end two months of increasingly fractious political deadlock amid a web of apparently irreconcilable political demands after the March vote led to a hung parliament and several earlier rounds of talks collapsed.</s>Italy: president proposes neutral government followed by fresh elections in 2019

President Sergio Mattarella on Monday suggested the formation of a 'neutral' government to rule until the end of this year after a third round of consultations failed to produce to way out of Italy's post-election political deadlock.

The head of State said that this government would step down if the parties were able to reach an agreement for a political executive, which has so far not been possible following March's inconclusive general election. ”If the parties were not to reach any agreement (in the coming months), the neutral government should conclude its work at the end of December for elections to follow immediately,” Mattarella said. He said that if the parties failed to support this neutral government it would be necessary to hold elections before the end of the year, while stressing that this would be problematic.

League leader Matteo Salvini and 5-Star Movement leader Luigi Di Maio earlier in the day mooted the idea of a July 8 election, but Mattarella said that Italy had always avoiding holding elections in the middle of summer holiday season to make sure people have the opportunity to vote.

He said that the voting in the autumn, on the other hand, would cause problems for the approval of the next budget law and commented on the need to avoid a rise in value-added tax set to kick in unless alternative financial coverage is found and avert the threat of financial instability.</s>Journalists waiting at the presidential palace, where talks to form Italy's new government are ongoing. Photo: Fabio Frustaci/AFP

President Sergio Mattarella will try once again on Monday to broker an agreement to form a viable government two months after Italy's inconclusive elections, following threats to name a team of technocrats instead.

The March 4th polls left a right-wing coalition led by the far-right League party in the driver's seat with 37 percent of the vote.

Seeking to ward off the prospect of a caretaker cabinet, League leader Matteo Salvini on Friday proposed going into a temporary government with the second-placed Five Star Movement (M5S) until December. This would give parliament time to pass a new electoral reform and adopt next year's budget for the eurozone's third-largest economy. He said fresh elections could then be held early next year.

The anti-establishment M5S, led by Luigi Di Maio, garnered 32 percent in the election, while the leftist Democratic Party won 19 percent.

The three parties will be first in line to speak to Mattarella, followed by smaller parties and the two speakers of parliament.

Di Maio said Sunday that he would forgo the premiership as a gesture to the League.

"If we really have to shake things up... I say to Salvini, 'Let's pick a head of government together'," Di Maio said on a TV talk show.
• The 'who, what, and why' of Italy's Democratic Party



 Silvio Berlusconi, Matteo Salvini and Luigi Di Maio depicted as Caravaggio's Cardsharps in Rome graffiti. Photo: Fanny Carrier/AFP

But the League, whose coalition includes Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia party, remains at loggerheads with M5S over the flamboyant former prime minister's possible role. Di Maio has demanded that Salvini dump the 81-year-old media magnate, whom the M5S regards as the symbol of political corruption, but Salvini insists he will not break up a coalition.

Officials of the right-wing coalition met Sunday evening in Rome to hammer out a joint strategy.

Several have demanded that Mattarella designate Salvini as prime minister and allow him to find the few dozen MPs needed from smaller parties to form a majority in parliament. But press reports say Mattarella wants guarantees.

He is expected to name a caretaker government, similar to that of economist Mario Monti from 2011 to 2013, that would restore Italy's role on the world stage and run the country at least until the 2019 budget is passed. He is thought to be looking for a neutral but competent figure, perhaps a woman, with press speculation running wild.

But both the League and M5S are dead set against such an alternative, with Di Maio saying he would support fresh elections as soon as June or July.

Lina Palmerini, analyst at the business daily Il Sole 24 Ore, said Mattarella has few options, warning: "If parliament rejects the president's government, the situation will be very difficult."

Pollster Lorenzo Pregliasco said voter surveys suggested new elections would not change the balance of forces. "No one will win a majority."

READ ALSO: The Local's introductory guide to Italian politics</s>President Sergio Mattarella’s last-ditch attempt to broker a government appeared to fall flat Monday, putting Italy on course for a caretaker government or even fresh polls just two months after inconclusive elections.

A right-wing coalition led by the far-right League party topped the March 4 polls with 37 percent of the vote, while the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S) became Italy’s largest single party with almost 33 percent.

Neither group has the numbers to form a majority government and both have been tussling for power since the election.

Over the weekend the M5S leader, Luigi Di Maio and League chief Matteo Salvini seemed to have made some progress but after a new round of consultations with the president Monday, deadlock appeared insurmountable.

Speaking after his meeting with Mattarella, Di Maio said he was willing to forgo the premiership in order to come to an accord with the League.

“I am prepared to choose a different prime minister who would forge a government contract (with the League),” he said.

But for any potential deal to work, Di Maio insists that Salvini’s coalition partner, former premier Silvio Berlusconi and his Forza Italia party must play no role in the new government, limiting themselves to outside support only.

The M5S regards Berlusconi’s party as the symbol of Italy’s political corruption.

Di Maio also stated that his party would refuse to back a caretaker government and that if no majority emerged the country must “return to the polls,” a stance he shares with League leader Salvini.

Following his meeting with the president, Salvini also declared that he was ready to “participate in a new government which would start to solve the country’s problems.”

But he remained firm in his refusal to break up his coalition and ditch Berlusconi.

Instead he proposed he be given a mandate to form a minority government which would need the support of a few dozen MPs from smaller parties in parliament.

Press reports suggest Mattarella would be unlikely to do so without guarantees a majority could be reached.

The President is expected to name a caretaker government, similar to that of economist Mario Monti from 2011 to 2013, that would be tasked with restoring Italy’s role on the world stage and running the country at least until the 2019 budget is passed.

He is thought to be looking for a neutral but competent figure, perhaps a woman, with press speculation running wild.

But with M5S and the League staunchly opposed to the idea, putting together a caretaker government will be no easy feat.

Lina Palmerini, analyst at the business daily Il Sole 24 Ore, said Mattarella has few options, warning: “If parliament rejects the president’s government, the situation will be very difficult.”

Pollster Lorenzo Pregliasco said voter surveys suggested new elections would not change the balance of forces. “No one will win a majority.”</s>President Sergio Mattarella will try once again on Monday to broker an agreement to form a viable government two months after Italy's inconclusive elections, following threats to name a team of technocrats instead.

The March 4 polls left a right-wing coalition led by the far-right League party in the driver's seat with 37 percent of the vote.

Seeking to ward off the prospect of a caretaker cabinet, League leader Matteo Salvini on Friday proposed going into a temporary government with the second-placed Five Star Movement (M5S) until December.

This would give parliament time to pass a new electoral reform and adopt next year's budget for the eurozone's third-largest economy.

He said fresh elections could then be held early next year.

The anti-establishment M5S, led by Luigi Di Maio, garnered 32 percent in the election, while the leftist Democratic Party won 19 percent.</s>Coalition Talks Collapse In Italy As Country Heads Toward A New Vote

Italy's president on Monday proposed a "neutral" caretaker government until new elections can be held, following weeks of coalition talks that failed to forge a workable alliance.

Over many weeks of government formation negotiations, the two main winners of the March 4 election, the maverick 5-Star-Movement and the anti-immigrant and anti-European Union League, stubbornly refused to budge from their demands, each insisting on a dominant role in the new government – seemingly unaware that in a proportional election system, like Italy's, political compromise is necessary.

"We can't wait any longer," President Sergio Mattarella, who appeared visibly annoyed by the deadlock, said in a televised statement.

"Let the parties decide of their own free will if they should give full powers to a government... or else new elections in the month of July or the autumn," he said.

Mattarella's major concern is that Italy have a fully functioning government in the weeks ahead when the European Union will make important decisions on immigration and the common currency, the Euro, and to lessen the risk that an unstable political situation will make Italy the target of risky financial speculation on international markets.

Many political commentators also stress the need to reassure Italy's EU partners at a time when both The League and the 5-Star-Movement are calling for a referendum on whether to pull Italy out of the common currency.

Mattarella is expected to announce the name of his pick for a new prime minister by Wednesday. Several commentators believe it will be a woman, which would be a first in Italy.</s>Italy may be forced to hold new elections this summer, as bickering political parties have failed to form a ruling coalition after inconclusive elections in March.

Italian President Sergio Mattarella has proposed the formation of a 'neutral' government to steer the country until December, but this has been rejected by some of the main parties.

Mattarella called on the warring parties to show 'responsibility' and support his as yet unnamed government, without which he said he would convene elections in July or in the autumn.

'The parties need to choose, we can't wait any longer,' said Mattarella, speaking to reporters after a third round of consultations failed to break the two-month stalemate.

However, the leaders of Italy's largest party - the Five Star Movement (M5S) - and a right-wing coalition led by the nationalist League, which won the most votes in March polls, have both insisted on July elections.

'It's crucial that the vote of the people is respected. So it's either a centre-right government or elections as soon as possible,' said League leader Matteo Salvini after Mattarella spoke.

Luigi Di Maio, head of M5S said on Twitter: 'No confidence in a 'neutral' government, which is synonymous with technical government. We should go to the polls in July.'

The only major political force to support Mattarella's idea was acting leader of the centre-left Democratic Party (PD), whose acting leader Maurizio Martina echoed 'the president's call for responsibility.'

'We hope that it's heard by all political forces. The PD will not fall short in its support for his initiative,' said Martina.

The president outlined an administration that would help Italy maintain its international obligations, including June's European Council meeting, and approve the country's 2019 budget.

The government would then dissolve at the end of the year ahead of elections to be held at the start of 2019.

Italy has been waiting since the March 4 general election for a new government, as negotiations between the parties have failed to break the deadlock.

Talks between the M5S and the right looked to have been smoothed out when the pair struck a deal over the selection of speakers for the upper house Senate and lower house Chamber of Deputies in late March.

But they collapsed after Salvini repeatedly refused Di Maio's demand that he dump coalition partner Silvio Berlusconi and agree upon a German-style 'government contract' as an independent party.

Last month Mattarella then tried to see if a pact could be made between the M5S, which picked up just under 33 percent of the vote, and the PD, who despite flopping to third place had enough seats to form a majority with Di Maio's party.

But that possibility was ruled out on Thursday, when the PD's national leadership voted unanimously not to engage in government talks with the M5S, just days after former prime minister Matteo Renzi refused talks.

Renzi still wields huge influence among the PD's MPs and senators, many of whom are hostile to the M5S after it ferociously criticised them when they governed Italy.
Italian President Sergio Mattarella says either fresh elections must be held or a neutral caretaker government installed following the collapse of a third round of talks aiming to form a coalition after March's general election failed to produce a clear winner.