Italian prime minister, Berlusconi, resigns

Berlusconi

Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi resigned yesterday after 
parliament’s lower chamber passed European-demanded 
reforms, ending a 17-year political era and setting in motion 
a transition aimed at bringing the country back from the brink 
of economic crisis.

A chorus of Handel’s “Alleluia,” performed by a few dozen 
singers and classical musicians, rang out in front of the president’s
 palace as thousands of Italians poured into downtown Rome to 
rejoice at the end of Berlusconi’s scandal-marred reign.

Hecklers shouted “Buffoon, Buffoon!” as Berlusconi’s motorcade 
entered and exited the presidential palace, where he tendered his
 resignation to President Giorgio Napolitano, the palace said in a
 statement.

Respected former European commissioner Mario Monti remained
 the top choice to try to steer the country out of its debt woes as the
 head of a transitional government, but Berlusconi’s allies remained 
split over whether to support him.

Their opposition wasn’t expected to scuttle Napolitano’s plans to ask
 Monti to try to form an interim government as early as Sunday, 
but it could make Monti’s job more difficult.

The Nation