This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Talks between Italy’s anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S) and the centre-left Democratic party (PD) have resumed in a last-ditch attempt to form a new government.

The longstanding rivals are under pressure to present a convincing pact to the president, Sergio Mattarella, on Wednesday.

Discussions have been hampered because of clashes over who would lead the coalition and who would hold ministry positions.

The PD succumbed to demands from M5S for Giuseppe Conte, who last week ended the fraught alliance between the party and the far-right League, to be reinstated as prime minister. The PD has insisted that the M5S leader, Luigi Di Maio, steps down as deputy prime minister in return.

To complicate matters, M5S said it would ask members to vote on any deal agreed with the PD on Rousseau, the online network it often uses to make policy decisions. The vote would only takes place if Mattarella gives the parties a mandate to form a government.

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The chaos was prompted by the deputy PM and interior minister, Matteo Salvini, who dramatically withdrew the League from its coalition government with M5S this month as he sought to exploit his high popularity to force snap elections in an effort to become the next prime minister.

Di Maio and Nicola Zingaretti, the PD leader, have been under pressure to strike a deal in an attempt to avert elections that could create western Europe’s first fully far-right government, despite their personal reservations and resistance from factions within their parties.

Mattarella, who has the power to dissolve parliament and call new elections, will hold consultations with leaders from Italy’s main parties – the PD, Forza Italia, the League and M5S – from 4pm (CET). He said last week that unless a strong new parliamentary majority could be formed, he would call snap elections.

Conte, a 55-year-old lawyer, has accumulated many fans since his blistering attack on Salvini in the Senate last week, not least Donald Trump, who gave his endorsement on Twitter.

“Starting to look good for the highly respected prime minister of the Italian Republic, Giuseppe Conte,” Trump tweeted. “Represented Italy powerfully at the G7. Loves his country greatly and works well with the USA. A very talented man who will hopefully remain prime minister!”

Conte met Trump in the US last year, and the pair were reunited at the G7 summit in Biarritz.