Italian Leader Silvio Berlusconi Resigns

Italian Leader Berlusconi Resigns (ALESSANDRA RIZZO, Associated Press)

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, the longest-serving leader in postwar Italy, resigned Tuesday to make way for a center-left government led by Romano Prodi that must re-energize a moribund economy.

President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi asked Berlusconi to remain on as caretaker prime minister during their 30-minute meeting at the Quirinale Palace.

“The president of the republic, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, has met this morning with Premier Silvio Berlusconi, who has handed in the resignation of the Cabinet over which he presides,” the president’s office said in a statement.

Berlusconi, leader of the conservatives elected in 2001, had steadfastly refused to concede defeat since the nation’s April 9-10 elections.

Berlusconi, who earlier Tuesday presided over a brief Cabinet meeting during which he announced his intention to resign, made no comments to reporters as he left Ciampi’s office.

“Democracy goes on, sometimes slowly, but it does,” Prodi said in welcoming the move. “It is a very important step.”

It was not clear if Ciampi would immediately give Prodi — whose center-left coalition scored a narrow election victory over Berlusconi and his conservative allies — the mandate to form a government.

But Ciampi, whose term expires May 18, had indicated he wants the next president to assume that duty.

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Italian Leader Silvio Berlusconi Resigns

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