Italy's president Sergio Mattarella will meet law professor and prospective populist prime minister Giuseppe Conte at 5pm local time on Wednesday, at Rome's Qurinale Palace, Mattarella's office stated.
Earlier on Wednesday, the populist Five-Star Movement's leader Luigi Di Maio confirmed Conte was still its candidate premier to lead its nascent government with the far-right League party - despite controversy surrounding the little-known academic and political newcomer.
Mattarella, who can confirm or reject the choice of Conte, on Tuesday sought more time to consider his nomination after accusations that Conte embellished his CV, fuelling speculation that he could be dropped as candidate PM by Five-Star and the League.
Further controversy has swirled around Conte following news reports highlighting his involvement in a case involving a discredited and now outlawed medical treatment invented by Davide Vannoni, a former professor who in 2015 was convicted of conspiracy and fraud for administering unproven stem cell treatments to patients at his Stamina Foundation.
Di Maio and Salvini's pick of Conte as an unelected premier is also open to question - both leaders were frequent critics of previous prime ministers such as Matteo Renzi who were not directly elected.
