Italian Premier Berlusconi Resigns

Premier Silvio Berlusconi resigned Tuesday, paving the way for a center-left government led by Romano Prodi after weeks of refusing to acknowledge the outcome of last month's elections.

During the 30-minute meeting at the Quirinale Palace, President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi asked Berlusconi to remain temporarily as caretaker prime minister, the president's office said in a statement.

"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 statement said.

Berlusconi, who had previously 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.

Berlusconi, leader of the conservatives elected in 2001, has been the longest-serving premier in postwar Italy. He had steadily refused to concede defeat since the April 9-10 elections.

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

"I hope the political vacuum doesn't go on for too long," he added. Prodi also said he hoped he would be able to "exchange all information and advice necessary in such cases" with Berlusconi.

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

It is up to the president to issue the mandate but Ciampi, whose term expires May 18, had indicated he wants the next president to assume that duty. But there has been widespread speculation that Ciampi might change his mind to put an end to the political delay.

Prodi said he was still working on his Cabinet lineup, which already has provoked some grumbling in his coalition.

"My aim is to be ready, but I have no date to suggest to President Ciampi," Prodi told reporters Monday.

"If he gives me the mandate soon, I have to have the (Cabinet) list in my pocket. If, instead, the mandate is given to me a few days later, I'll keep it (in the pocket) a few more days," he said.

Leftist coalition leader Prodi, who opposed the war in Iraq, is expected to bring about significant changes in the relationship between Rome and Washington. While stressing that Italy's friendship with the United States is not in question, Prodi has repeatedly said that Europe, not America, is the focus of his foreign policy.

Ciampi on Monday stressed the need for Italy, including its politicians, to get down to business quickly to revive the country's zero-growth economy.

He said political tensions must ease if the nation is to work together on that goal.

Berlusconi had vowed to fight the election results through legal challenges. He also has pledged to lead fierce political opposition in the legislature.

"A cycle is over. These five years are over," Berlusconi's justice minister, Roberto Castelli, told reporters after the Cabinet meeting in which Berlusconi also reviewed the output of the government's five-year term.

"We will go on. We will be the opposition."