Mattarella starts govt-formation consultations

(ANSA) - ROME, OCT 20 - President Sergio Mattarella on Thursday started a round of formal consultations on the formation of a new government after last month's general election, which was won by an alliance led by Giorgia Meloni's right-wing Brothers of Italy (FdI) party.
    The consultations began on Thursday morning with talks with the Senate Speaker Ignazio La Russa and Lower House Speaker Lorenzo Fontana.
    Mattarella will meet the opposition parties separately later on Thursday - the Green-Italian Left group, the centrist Azione-Italia Viva partnership, the 5-Star Movement (M5S) and the centre-left Democratic Party.
    On Friday the parties of the a Meloni's coalition, which also includes ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia and Matteo Salvini's League, will go together as a unit to have their meeting with the head of State.
    There had been doubts about whether the right-wing allies would take part in the consultations as a united bloc following tension between Meloni and Berlusconi over the government team.
    But Berlusconi has confirmed that FI will not take part in the talks separately and will ask Mattarella to give Meloni a mandate to form a new government along with the rest of the alliance.
    She may get the mandate on Friday evening. (ANSA).