Violins Please.............
Italy's Berlusconi set to resign
The BBC Online.......
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is to resign on Tuesday - nearly three weeks after his narrow election defeat.
His announcement came after his centre-right alliance failed to get its candidate elected as Senate speaker.
Italy's highest court has confirmed the victory of the centre-left coalition in both houses of parliament.
Mr Berlusconi had until now refused to concede, saying the vote was too close. He will be replaced by Romano Prodi.
Silvio Berlusconi said he would hold his last cabinet meeting on Tuesday, before handing his resignation to President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, Italy's Ansa news agency reported.
However he is likely to stay on as head of a caretaker government for the time being, the BBC's David Willey in Rome says.
Vulnerable
The process of forming a new coalition cannot begin before the new parliament elects a successor to President Ciampi. The election is due within the next fortnight.
Earlier on Saturday Fausto Bertinotti, a veteran leader of the Communist party, was elected speaker of the lower house - where Mr Prodi's majority is larger.
In the Senate, where the centre-left has a majority of only two seats, supporters of Mr Berlusconi fought particularly hard.
It took four ballots to elect Franco Marini, a moderate trade union leader, as speaker.
Romano Prodi voiced his relief at the election of the two speakers, saying: "We have settled in."
But our correspondent says Mr Prodi got a taste of what it will be like to govern without a secure majority in both houses of parliament.
He adds that the centre-left will be particularly vulnerable in this upper house and the defection or sickness of only a single senator could put the future coalition at risk.
Story from BBC NEWS:
news.bbc.co.uk
Published: 2006/04/29 17:37:33 GMT |
