Giuseppe Conte, the outgoing prime minister, joined the meeting between the PD leader, Nicola Zingaretti, and his M5S counterpart, Luigi Di Maio, signalling that Zingaretti has given in to the M5S’s demands to reinstate Conte under a potential coalition.
The nomination of Conte, whose resignation last week ended a troublesome coalition government between the M5S and the far-right League, has been the main obstacle in the talks.
Zingaretti declined to comment on Conte’s potential return after an initial meeting with Di Maio in Rome on Monday evening, but said:
“We are on the right track. I’m optimistic about making this agreement. Creating a government is a serious thing – we are serious people – and we don’t want [a government] that finishes after 14 months like the M5S-League one.”
Italian President Sergio Mattarella is hoping to see serious signs of progress towards the creation of a new government before beginning fresh consultations with the leaders of Italy’s main parties from Tuesday afternoon.
Zingaretti and Di Maio are due to meet Mattarella separately on Wednesday.
If a viable deal is struck, Mattarella could give them more time to formalise a plan.
If the talks aren’t successful, he will most likely install a caretaker government until new elections in November.
