Italy's ruling centre-left Democratic Party will not join a coalition government but will take its rightful place in opposition, its caretaker leader Maurizio Martina said Tuesday after the party got just 18.7 percent of votes in inconclusive national polls last month.
"The party's national directorate has recognised our crushing defeat from which arises the need to go into parliamentary opposition," Martina told Italy's Radio Capital.
"The electoral defeat cannot be denied and we will re-launch our project from the opposition benches...the people expressed themselves very clearly on 4 March," he said.
Italy's parties are jostling for power as president Sergio Mattarella on Wednesday begins consultations on the formation of a government, a month after the election led to a hung parliament.
The consultations could drag on for weeks or even months. Mattarella has the power to name a prime minister but is still unclear if the parties which got the biggest share of votes in the 4 March election can find enough common ground to form a coalition government or whether another vote will be needed.
The populist Five-Star Movement, as the largest single party after the vote, and the rightwing League, the leader of the winning centre-right coalition, are laying claim to a first bid to form a government.
Matteo Renzi announced his resignation as Democratic Party leader last month after the party achieved its worst-ever electoral result.
