Italy's populists and rightwingers begin post-electoral talks

ROME - Ten days after a general election that delivered a hung parliament, talks between the two relative winners of Italy's March 4 vote have officially begun.

The rightwing, anti-immigrant League and the populist Five Star Movement are sounding each other out ahead of March 23, when Italy's newly elected parliament, 315 senators and 630 Lower House representatives, assembles for the first time to choose a speaker for each house.

Both winners, the anti-establishment Five Star Movement and the right-wing League, fell short of the majority they would need to be able to form a government on their own.

Both campaigned on pledges to throw out undocumented immigrants, roll back unpopular pension reforms, introduce drastic tax cuts, cut government waste, and shell out generous welfare packages.

Being euroskeptic, both have promised their voters they would defy European Union rules on government spending.

The center-left Democratic Party of outgoing Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, which suffered a crushing electoral defeat after ruling in a moderate left-right coalition for five years, has said it will stay in the opposition.

After parliament elects its speakers, according to Italy's Constitution, the president of the country Sergio Mattarella begins talks with various political parties to sound out possible government agreements.

That process could take weeks, meaning that Italy is unlikely to see a new government until the end of April, if not beyond.