The populist Five-Star Movement has asked Italy's president Sergio Mattarella for "several more days" of talks with the far-right League on a coalition government, the party's leader Luigi Di Maio said on Monday.
"We have asked the president to give us several more days to get the five-year contract of government right," Di Maio told reporters after he and a Five-Star delegation met Mattarella in Rome.
Di Maio refused to indicate the name of a possible premier to lead a Five-Star-League government.
"We are not stating any name publicly," Di Maio said.
Once the two sides have finalised the five-year 'contract of government', Five-Star's membership will decide in an online vote whether to back the tie-up with the League, Di Maio said.
The programme of government hammered out so far by Five-Star and the League in four days of negotiations is said to include lowering the retirement age in Italy and tax cuts.
Mattarella was due to meet Salvini later on Monday and has the power to approve or reject any pick for prime minister. If he backs the Five-Star-League's proposed cabinet, it will be put to a parliamentary confidence vote, possibly this week.
Five-Star is the biggest political party and the centre-right is the largest bloc in the hung parliament.
Italy has been in political limbo since the inconclusive 4 March national election in which populist parties made strong gains.
Several previous rounds of talks with Italy's political leaders aimed at ending the stalemate collapsed amid a mesh of seemingly irreconcilable demands.
If the Five-Star-League tie-up falls through, Mattarella will appoint a caretaker government to oversee a re-vote, probably in the next few months.
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