Italy's centre-right leader Matteo Salvini said on Thursday he hoped the "soap opera" of a populist-centre-left tie-up would not last long and said the country was being held hostage by political infighting and the lust for power.
"I expect the soap-opera featuring (populist Five-Star Movement leader Luigi) Di Maio and supporters of (outgoing Democratic Party leader Matteo) Renzi will go on for a few days," Salvini stated.
"Let's hope it doesn't last too long," added Salvini who heads the far-right League party and the centre-right alliance - the largest political bloc in the Italian parliament.
A coalition government between Five-Star and the Democratic Party would be "disrespectful to electors and above all to Italians," Salvini stated.
"I will be at the ready when their dalliance goes awry - as I think it will," Salvini added.
His comments came after lower house of parliament speaker Roberto Fico said on Thursday that three days of talks on a possible coalition government between Five-Star and the Democratic Party had a "positive outcome" and that dialogue was underway between the two sides.
Talks between Five-Star and the centre-right collapsed last week due to Salvini's refusal to comply with Di Maio's demand that he dump his ally Silvio Berlusconi, the conservative Forza Italia leader who has a conviction for tax fraud and his on trial for bribery.
Italy has been under a caretaker government since the inconclusive 4 March election which led to a hung parliament. The Democratic Party's centre-left coalition came a poor third in the ballot but has the seats in parliament to play kingmaker. It had ruled Italy since 2013.
Italy's president Sergio Mattarella has struggled to make progress on forming a government amid a mesh of seemingly irreconcilable demands by party leaders during several previous rounds of talks.
