Far-right League party leader Matteo Salvini said on Monday that Italians will have to return to the polls if the populist Five-Star Movement refuses to compromise in talks to form a coalition government.
"It's clear that to enter into dialogue with a person, they must have the wish to listen and to respond," Salvini told supporters at a party rally in the northeast town of Spilimbergo.
"If the person keeps saying 'I am going to be premier, I pick the team and decide the programme, I am in charge, I don't like that person and I will only talk with who I want to, this is not exactly the best way to negotiate," he said.
Both Five Star, the largest single party after the inconclusive 4 March national election, and the League, the leader of the winning centre-right coalition, are laying claim to a first bid to form a government.
Salvini has so far refused to break with Forza Italia leader Berlusconi, which is a condition posed by Five-Star leader Luigi Di Maio for any tie-up.
"We will go back to the country and ask for mandate to government alone without wasting any more time," Salvini warned.
Berlusconi has made clear he wanted nothing to do with Five-Star, in response to its own rejection of him due to his tax fraud conviction.
The Democratic Party (PD) came third in last month's polls - its worst-ever electoral result. Salvini has rejected any coalition with the PD which could play kingmaker in the current political deadlock but has so far vowed to go into opposition.
The complex mesh of seemingly irreconcilable demands have complicated Italian president Sergio Mattarella's talks with party leaders and his advisers have warned that it could take many weeks to find a solution.
Mattarella is keen to avoid fresh polls this year and wants to have a coalition government in place by a European Union heads of state and government summit taking place in Brussels on 28 June, La Repubblica daily reported on Monday.
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