The leader of Italy's far-right League, Matteo Salvini, said on Monday he had asked the president to give him a mandate to try to form a government to end two months of deadlock following an inconclusive election.

"We trust that the president will give us the chance to find a majority in parliament," Salvini told reporters after meeting President Sergio Mattarella at the head of a centre-right alliance of parties.

The March 4 ballot produced a hung parliament, with the centre-right bloc taking the most seats, and the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement emerging as the biggest single party. It was far from clear if Salvini could muster enough votes in parliament to form a government.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.