ITALY: Italy's prime minister Silvio Berlusconi handed in his resignation yesterday, ending weeks of political uncertainty and opening the way for centre-left leader Romano Prodi to form a new government.
Mr Berlusconi was forced to concede defeat after lawmakers elected centre-left speakers for parliament at the weekend, showing Mr Prodi can control the assembly with his slim majority.
"They'll miss us, we were the best government the republic ever had," Mr Berlusconi told his final cabinet meeting, ministers said.
The resignation marked the end of a turbulent spell as prime minister for the self-made billionaire who won power promising an economic miracle, but instead presided over a long period of stagnation during his record-breaking government.
President Carlo Ciampi asked the media tycoon to remain in office as caretaker until a new government was sworn in, the president's palace said in a statement.
In what must have been a painful moment for Mr Berlusconi, who often warned Italians of the threat posed by communists, he had to personally give notice of his resignation to the head of the Rifondazione Comunista party, who is the new leader of parliament's lower house. Asked how his brief meeting with Fausto Bertinotti went, Mr Berlusconi said: "Very well, I have always got on well with him."
The 85-year-old President Ciampi has yet to say whether he will start consultations this week on the formation of a government, or delay the move until after parliament elects a new head of state later this month.
Mr Ciampi, whose mandate expires on May 18th, has always said his successor should oversee the transition, but he faces huge pressure to do it himself with credit-rating agencies pushing Italy to take swift action over its wayward public finances.