Italy's Senate speaker Maria Elisabetta Alberti Casellati will kick off two days of exploratory talks on forming a centre-right-populist government with a meeting Wednesday with grassroots Five-Star Movement leader Luigi di Maio.
Casellati was due to meet Di Maio at 16.30 local time at her official residence, Palazzo Giustiniani, followed by the leader of the far-right League party, Matteo Salvini, at 17.30, the Senate said.
Castellati is due to hold talks at 18.30 with ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi, leader of the conservative Forza Italia party - to which Casellati belongs - and with the rightwing Fratelli d'Italia party leader Giorgia Meloni at 19.30.
Mattarella gave Casellati the role of mediator on Wednesday after he held two rounds of talks this month with Italy's party leaders which failed to break the political deadlock since the inconclusive 4 March election in which populist parties made strong gains.
The Italian head of state has asked Casellati to tell him by Friday if she believes a centre-right-populist coalition can govern and agree on a prime minister.
No single political force has a majority in parliament but Five-Star, the biggest party after the 4 March poll, and the League, the largest party in the centre-right alliance, which won most votes, are claiming first bid to try and form a government.
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