Italy's Salvini says working on finding a woman as president

League leader Matteo Salvini said on Friday he was looking to secure a deal with other parties so that a woman could become Italy's next president.

"I'm working so that a smart woman president (is elected)," Salvini told reporters after a fifth consecutive day of voting in parliament failed to break the deadlock over who should be head of state.

The two women's names most often cited in the media as possible candidates have been Justice Minister Marta Cartabia and Elisabetta Belloni, a career diplomat who heads the secret services.