Berlusconi resigns, paving way for Prodi government
Mr Berlusconi had contested Mr Prodi’s razor-thin victory in a national election last month but was forced to concede after lawmakers elected centre-left speakers for parliament at the weekend, showing Mr Prodi can control the assembly with his slim majority.
The resignation marked the end of a turbulent five-year spell as prime minister for the billionaire media magnate who won power promising an economic miracle but instead presided over a long period of stagnation.
It also signalled the start of a swing to the left for the euro zone’s third largest economy as Mr Prodi brings to power his cumbersome coalition, which ranges from old school communists to Roman Catholic moderates.
President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi asked the media tycoon to remain in office as caretaker until a new government is 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 communist party, who is the new leader of parliament’s lower house.
Asked how his meeting with Fausto Bertinotti went, Mr Berlusconi said: “Very well, I have always got on well with him.”
Mr Prodi, who won the election by the smallest margin in modern Italian history, welcomed the long-awaited resignation.
“Now it’s up to us to form a new government in the timescale that will be set out by the president,” Mr Prodi told reporters.
However, Mr Ciampi, 85, 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 18, has 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.
If Mr Ciampi bows to the pressure, Italy could have a government led by Mr Prodi in place by the end of the week.
