Italy's outgoing premier Paolo Gentiloni on Tuesday thanked caretaker industry minister Carlo Calenda for his decision to become a member of the centre-left Democratic Party after its crushing general election defeat.
"Thank you Carlo!" Gentiloni tweeted.
In an earlier tweet Calenda wrote: "We don't need to form a new party but must work together to bounce back."
"Tomorrow I'm going to join the Democratic Party," the tweet added.
The embattled Democratic Party, which has ruled Italy since 2013, won just 18.7 percent of ballots cast on Sunday in polls that saw the populist Five Star and far-right Northern League parties come out on top in a reflection of voter discontent over the economy and immigration.
Matteo Renzi announced his resignation as Democratic Leader late on Monday saying "a new page" needed to be turned over following a "clear defeat".
Calenda won recent acclaim for his mediation of a standoff between Whirlpool unit Embraco and unions over the company's planned closure of its Italian plant with the loss of some 500 jobs.
Under the deal brokered by Calenda, Embraco workers will keep their jobs at least for this year while the government finds a buyer prepared to redevelop the factory site near Turin in northwest Italy.
