Italian President Sergio Mattarella has summoned outgoing Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte for a meeting today morning, a presidential official said yesterday.
The announcement signalled that Conte is likely to receive a mandate to try to form a new government with the ruling 5-Star Movement and the opposition Democratic Party (PD). 
Conte resigned last week after the far-right League party withdrew from its coalition with the 5-Star, forcing Mattarella to hold consultations with all Italy’s main political parties to try to find a way out of the political chaos.
Both 5-Star and the PD told the president they were willing to try to form an administration with Conte at the helm.
Following days of often tense and difficult talks, the leaders of 5-Star and the PD told Italy’s president that the new government should once again be led by Conte.
The two sides still need to agree on a shared policy platform and team of ministers, but 5-Star chief Luigi Di Maio and his PD counterpart Nicola Zingaretti said they had committed to find common ground for the good of the country.
“We love Italy and we consider it worthwhile to try this experience,” Zingaretti told reporters.
The previous coalition made up of 5-Star and the far-right League collapsed this month when League leader Matteo Salvini withdrew from the alliance hoping to trigger an early election and cash in on his surging popularity.
But his move backfired when Conte refused to resign immediately, giving 5-Star and the PD time to try to overcome their fierce mutual animosity and agree to a government that had previously appeared impossible.
“The only thing that unites them is their hatred of the League,” Salvini said bitterly after meeting Mattarella in an effort to convince him to call elections.
“Millions of Italians are being held hostage by a hundred parliamentarians who are looking to cling onto their posts.”
The prospect of a new administration led by Conte, an academic who is considered close to the 5-Star, has buoyed markets, which are betting that Italy will get a fiscally prudent government that will avoid confrontation with Europe.
The League is highly eurosceptic and had promised swingeing tax cuts for 2020 that economists warned could put unsustainable pressure on Italy’s towering debt mountain.
However, a coalition pact is not yet a done deal.
The tentative accord could still unravel even as Mattarella wraps up his consultations aimed at resolving the political chaos that was unexpectedly unleashed by Salvini.
5-Star and the PD have yet to agree on other top government posts or reveal a common policy platform.
In an added complication, 5-Star has said it will put its proposed deal with the PD to an online vote of its members.
Many 5-Star supporters have taken to social media to denounce any pact with the centre-left and a ‘yes’ vote cannot be taken for granted.
As negotiations went down to the wire, one of the posts still in play was that of deputy prime minister.
The PD wants this job for one of its own, now that it has agreed to Conte staying on as prime minister.
“The problem is that if there is a premier from the 5-Star it is fair that his deputy is from the PD,” PD deputy leader Andrea Orlando said on Twitter.
Conte, a virtually unknown lawyer when he was chosen by the League and 5-Star to lead their new government last year, was seen as a voice of reason within the outgoing coalition and has good relations with Mattarella.
An opinion poll yesterday in daily Corriere della Sera showed Salvini’s approval rating had plunged by 15 points since he pulled the plug on the government, and is now 16 points behind Conte’s.