Italy remains in political limbo after talks to break a deadlock created by inconclusive polls ended with no solution, leaving the make-up of the future government of the eurozone's third largest economy in the hands of the president.
After a day-long round of consultations with President Giorgio Napolitano on Friday, political parties appeared to be as far as ever from resolving a stalemate left after the centre-left won the February ballot by a whisker but failed to secure a key majority in the senate.
"The president will take some time for reflection," spokesperson Pasquale Cascella, said.
Mr Napolitano could announce his decision on Saturday, as European capitals and financial markets watch to see if stability will be restored amid renewed turbulence in the eurozone, AFP reports.
Analysts say he may nominate a prime minister candidate from outside the party political sphere - an arrangement similar to the one that brought Mario Monti to power in 2011.
A former European commissioner, Mr Monti kept public finances in check and launched key reforms but was punished at the ballot box by widespread opposition to his austerity measures.
Another possibility is that Mr Napolitano could try to push through some kind of right-left coalition, though that option looked increasingly distant after Friday's talks.
A third, most drastic option could see him resign - beginning a process which would see his successor dissolve parliament and call new elections in the recession-hit country.
The centre-left, Italy's biggest block, ruled out the possibility of a cross-party coalition after talks with Mr Napolitano, and said it trusted the president to decide what was best for Italy.
Leftist leader Pier Luigi Bersani had been asked by Mr Napolitano to seek the support necessary to govern, but six days of talks ended in failure on Thursday, prompting the president to call a last-ditch round of negotiations on Friday.
The Democratic Party's deputy leader, Enrico Letta, summed up the day's consultations, saying they had been repeatedly turned down in their attempts to find a solution.
"Whatever the president's decision is, he will have our support," he said, ruling out however any "grand coalition" with the scandal-hit former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi.
But the billionaire tycoon called for the parties to "find a way to govern together as a coalition," saying: "We believe an agreement can be found."
The country's third political force, the Five Star movement, said it would "not support either a coalition government of political parties, or one made up of politicians camouflaged as technocrats."
Any new government would need to win confidence votes in both houses of parliament.
Mario Monti's cabinet will remain in place until a new government is formed, although it has effectively been operating with interim powers since December last year.
