Conservative alliance leader Matteo Salvini on Thursday posted to Twitter a photo of himself gripping a bulldozer with the caption "We are working for you" - as talks continued with the populist Five Star Movement on forming a government.
Changes to a highly unpopular 2011 law that raises the retirement age for Italians, issues of employment and illegal migration and "legitimate self-defence" are the key planks of a joint programme of government being hammered out by the two sides, Salvini told reporters at the parliament.
Earlier Salvini and Di Maio issued a joint statement saying they had made "significant progress" on a coalition government "amid constructive cooperation" between the two sides.
Italy's president Sergio Mattarella on Wednesday gave Di Maio and Salvini a further day of last-ditch talks on a tie-up after two months of political deadlock and several rounds of negotiations with the various political leaders foundered amid a mesh of seemingly irreconcilable demands.
If Di Maio and Salvini fail to forge a majority government, Mattarella will be forced to appoint a caretaker cabinet to oversee a re-vote.
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