ROME, May 7 (Xinhua) -- Italy continued in political gridlock Monday after last-ditch efforts at government-formation talks brokered by the country's president, Sergio Mattarella, after inconclusive March 4 elections left parliament divided into three blocs, none of which has enough of a majority to rule on its own.
Mattarella, who has the power to appoint a prime minister, to dissolve parliament and to call elections, last Friday gave the three main forces -- a center-right bloc led by the far-right League party of Matteo Salvini, the populist Five Star Movement of Luigi Di Maio, and outgoing Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni's center-left Democratic Party -- until today to resolve their differences and come up with a working majority.
But half-way through the day on Monday, the three blocs were still deadlocked after they emerged from their talks with the president.
Di Maio, whose anti-corruption movement won around 32 percent of the vote, said he would give up his claim on the premiership if the League agreed to enter into a coalition with them -- as long as they get rid of their scandal-tainted coalition ally, Silvio Berlusconi.
The anti-corruption Five Stars object to the former premier and media mogul, who leads the moderate, conservative Forza Italia party, due to a 2013 tax fraud conviction.
Salvini, whose coalition won 37.5 percent of the national vote, turned down Di Maio's offer.
In a televised statement, he said he asked Mattarella to name him prime minister of a so-called "minority government", that will have to seek out votes from other parties on each measure it proposes.
Both the Five Stars and the League have promised voters they would roll back unpopular pension reforms, introduce generous welfare policies and drastic tax cuts, throw out illegal immigrants, and break European Union fiscal and trade rules if necessary.
Democratic secretary Maurizio Martina, whose party won around 18 percent of the vote, has refused to work with the other forces, claiming their programs are too different from its own. The pro-EU Democratic Party supports moderate public spending, free trade, and a managed approach to immigration.
Mattarella will hold talks with smaller political parties in the afternoon, and may make a statement at the end of the day as to what his next step will be.
For example, he might choose a well-respected figure to lead a government with a mandate to carry out specific measures -- such as a budget law, or a new electoral law that will guarantee a clear winner in the next election.
Recent polls show 30 percent of respondents think new elections are needed, 30 percent would support a Five Star-League government, and 16 percent would approve of a Five Star-Democratic Party executive, according to a Demopolis Institute survey conducted May 2-3.
