Democratic Party ( PD) member Maurizio Martina speaks to the media during the second day of consultations with the Italian President Sergio Mattarella at the Quirinal Palace in Rome, Italy, April 5, 2018. REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi

ROME (Reuters) - Italy’s center-left Democratic Party (PD) plans to remain part of the opposition in the new parliament and not join any coalition government, the PD’s acting secretary Maurizio Martina said on Thursday.

“The negative election result does not allow us to formulate government solutions that include us,” Martina said after meeting President Sergio Mattarella, who is trying to stitch together a new government after an inconclusive March 4 vote.

In the election, a center-right alliance taking in the far-right League and Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia won the most seats, followed by the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement, with the PD a distant third, but no group can govern alone.