Party chief whips in Italy's Senate were due to meet on Wednesday, the upper house of parliament said in a statement. The meeting came ahead of talks between head of state Sergio Mattarella and populist candidate premier Giuseppe Conte later on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Italy's president Sergio Mattarella met Senate speaker Maria Elisabetta Alberti Casellati amid ongoing talks on a government following Italy's inconclusive 4 March national election.
Speculation is growing that Mattarella will confirm the choice of Conte to lead a nascent populist government between the Five-Star Movement and the anti-immigrant League party.
Five-Star and the centre-right coalition led by League party chief Matteo Salvini emerged as the largest political forces in Italy's hung parliament following the March vote in which populist parties made strong gains.
