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| League chief Matteo Salvini and Five Star leader Luigi Di Maio both want to lead Italy |
The leaders of two
anti-establishment parties have each claimed they have the right to
govern Italy, after voters in Europe's fourth-largest economy did not
return a majority to any single party.
But the anti-immigrant League said it had been endorsed to run the country as part of a centre-right alliance.
Forming a government could take weeks of negotiation and coalition-building. Former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has resigned as leader of the governing centre-left Democratic Party, which performed poorly, taking less than 20% of the vote.
He said the party would not join a coalition with "anti-system forces" and would go into opposition instead.
An alliance between the far-right League and ex-Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia party is set to win the most seats in the lower house of parliament, but the League has emerged as the senior partner. It won 17.4% of the vote compared with Forza Italia's 14%.
Matteo Salvini, the 44-year-old leader of the League, said at a press conference that he intended to speak to other parties to gain a parliamentary majority.
Five Star leader Luigi Di Maio, 31, announced that his party was also open to coalition talks with other parties - this despite the party having stated the contrary in the run-up to the vote.
The gains for populists represent a political earthquake that will send shockwaves to the EU in Brussels, BBC Europe editor Katya Adler says.
A coalition between Five Star and the League would be a "nightmare result" for the EU, our correspondent adds.
However, Mr Salvini has ruled out such an alliance. He said he was not interested in a "minestrone" coalition, referring to the Italian soup of mixed vegetables.