Italian President Sergio Mattarella and party leaders started talks on Thursday over how to form a transitional government after Matteo Renzi's resignation as prime minister on Wednesday.

The resignation followed Renzi's defeat in a referendum on constitutional reform law last Sunday.

The talks started are expected to end Saturday afternoon, according to the president's office in a communique.

Mattarella has asked the Renzi government to remain in charge of day-to-day business while he launches consultations with the country's main political forces in an effort to lead the country out of the impasse to form the interim government.

In a brief address on Wednesday to the executive of his center-left Democratic Party, Renzi said the future holds two alternatives: either a broad coalition government to steer the country through the end of the current legislature in 2018, or early elections as soon as the Constitutional Court pronounces itself on "Italicum" electoral law.

source: Xinhua