Italy's  prime minister said on Sunday he expected to finalize talks over a new government by Wednesday, as the 5-Star Movement and Democratic Party (PD) were in intense discussions during the weekend to hammer out a deal on a common agenda and Cabinet posts. 

Italian President Sergio Mattarella gave Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte a mandate on Thursday to try to form a new coalition following Matteo Salvini’s decision to pull his right-wing League from its 14-month-old alliance with 5-Star to seek early elections. 

Conte said the "political mood" between 5-Stars and once bitter adversary PD was good. 

"It will be on Tuesday, Wednesday at the latest," he said in a video interview during a conference organized by Il Fatto Quotidiano newspaper, when asked when he would report back to Mattarella with a program and a lineup for the new government. 

"Obviously I am confident on a positive outcome," he added. 

If no agreement is sealed in the coming week, Mattarella is expected to dissolve parliament and set a date for a new vote. 

In a sign that a deal on the program might be closer, the 5-Star Movement said later on Sunday its members were called on Tuesday between 0700 and 1600 GMT to give a green light to a potential coalition accord with PD through a web-based ballot on the movement’s internet platform, dubbed Rousseau. 

Members will have to answer whether they agree that the movement should form a government with PD, chaired by Conte, the 5-Stars official blog said, in line with the party’s credo of direct democracy. 

The blog added that the government program agreed with PS would be available online to members when voting starts. 

Stung by what it saw as betrayal and keen to avoid a return to the ballot box, the populist 5-Star has agreed to make an attempt to govern with center-left PD, which is in the process of rebuilding after a string of election defeats. 

But despite the differences over policy and ministerial roles, senior figures from both sides have been speaking in support of a coalition during the weekend as the talks have continued. 

"I know it is difficult, but we're doing our best to give this country a new government,” PD leader Nicola Zingaretti said on Sunday in a video post on Twitter. 

He said on Friday after talks with Conte that Italy’s next government must cut income taxes to boost consumption, relaunch investment and focus on health and education.