Italian lawmakers will meet Thursday to begin voting to elect a new president, parliament said in a statement, amid hopes that the election could help end a deadlock on forming a new government.

Italian lawmakers will meet Thursday to begin voting to elect a new president, parliament said in a statement, amid hopes that the election could help end a deadlock on forming a new government.

The joint session of both chambers of parliament together with regional representatives -- making for 1,007 voters in total -- will meet at 0800 GMT, said the statement released on Monday.

There needs to be a two-thirds majority behind a single candidate in the first three rounds of voting, after which a simple majority will suffice.

No single party or coalition holds a simple majority, meaning there will have to be some kind of compromise to establish a new government after two months of deadlock.

Behind-the-scenes talks between parties in recent days have focused on the presidential vote -- seen as a key step since the new president will have the power to dissolve parliament and call early elections if there is no deal.

President Giorgio Napolitano, 87, does not have that constitutional power as he was in the last months of his seven-year mandate.

Three former prime ministers -- Giuliano Amato, Massimo D'Alema and Romano Prodi -- are among the names being mentioned as possible successors.

But there are also believed to be "outsider" candidates like Gino Strada, head of the medical charity Emergency, and Emma Bonino, a former European commissioner and human rights activist.