DRAGHI MEETS BIGGEST ITALIAN PARTIES TO FORM NEW GOV’T

Former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi will continue talks with Italy's biggest political parties in a bid to form a new government, Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) reported.

Draghi, who holds no political office, was last week tasked with forming a technocratic government by President Sergio Mattarella, after the previous coalition under prime minister Giuseppe Conte collapsed in mid-January.

The Tuesday meetings with parties including the populist Five Star Movement, ex-interior minister Matteo Salvini's right-wing Lega party and the Social Democrats (PD) are expected to bring Draghi closer to deciding whether to actually put himself forward for a parliamentary vote to become prime minister.

Draghi needs the confidence of the two chambers of parliament, and has received positive signals from both the former government forces and the opposition during exploratory talks.

However, the Five Star Movement - whose support is particularly important as the strongest force in parliament - is divided on the matter and plans to poll its members this week. Salvini has agreed to support Draghi after initially saying new elections were the best option. Some PD politicians were put off by Salvini's support.

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