ROME: A centre-right alliance won Sunday's election in the tiny southern Italian region of Molise, as negotiations continued at the national level to try to form a government following last month's inconclusive vote.
Molise has only around 300,000 inhabitants, but its regional ballot was closely watched as a sign of possible momentum for the parties jostling to form a coalition in the wake of the March 4 election that produced a hung parliament.
The centre-right candidate backed by nine parties won 43 percent of the vote in Molise, ahead of the candidate for the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement, with 38 percent.
The result was a setback for 5-Star, which had hoped to gain control of its first regional government after emerging as the largest party at the national ballot.
In Molise it was again by far the biggest party, with no other group reaching 10 percent, but it failed to overcome the massed forces of the centre-right and fell back markedly from the 44 percent it took in the same region in March.
The centre-left, which was the incumbent government in the region, performed badly as it had in the national election, with its candidate backed by five parties taking 17 percent. The ruling Democratic Party (PD) got only 9 percent.
Looking to overcome the deadlock in Rome, President Sergio Mattarella on Monday summoned the speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Roberto Fico, who is from 5-Star, for a meeting at 5 pm (1500 GMT).
Mattarella is expected ask him to mediate with the parties on his behalf to see if there is scope for a coalition between 5-Star and either the PD or the far-right League.
PROGRAMME
At the election seven weeks ago a centre-right bloc led by the League won the most seats in parliament, but was more than 50 short of an absolute majority in the Chamber of Deputies.
The 5-Star, as the largest individual party, says it is willing to govern with either the League or the PD, but so far neither has taken up its offer.
On Monday, 5-Star's leader Luigi Di Maio published a 10-point programme on his Facebook page which he said was compatible with the ideas of both the League and the PD and could be the basis of a joint government programme.
5-Star refuses to govern with the League's main alliance partner, Forza Italia (Go Italy!) led by former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, but League leader Matteo Salvini has so far rejected 5-Star's calls for him to abandon his veteran ally.
The PD, which is divided and licking its wounds after its election defeat, says it wants to go into opposition.
It remains to be seen to what extent the vote in tiny Molise could affect the national talks.
The fact the centre-right's joint forces overcame 5-Star as they did nationally, could deter Salvini from splitting up the conservative alliance despite his frequent bickering with Berlusconi. At the same time 5-Star's failure to clinch victory could weaken Di Maio's claim to be named prime minister.
Salvini said the Molise result showed the only logical government should be a coalition of the centre-right with 5-Star, which could "set up a government this week".
This solution has been repeatedly ruled out by 5-Star.
If all efforts to break the stalemate fail, Mattarella could try to put together a government of technocrats with a limited mandate, including electoral reform, to prepare for early elections in the spring of 2019. Failing this, his last option would be to call elections in the autumn of this year.
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