Berlusconi to quit and make way for Prodi [View All]

[Judi Lynn]

Berlusconi to quit and make way for Prodi
Sat Apr 29, 2006 12:36pm ET

By Gavin Jones

ROME (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said on Saturday he would resign, ending three weeks of wrangling over a narrow election defeat and clearing the political decks for Romano Prodi to take power.

Berlusconi would hand in his resignation to President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi on Tuesday after a scheduled cabinet meeting, officials said.

He had previously alleged election fraud and had refused to formally concede defeat after the April 9-10 polls.

Prodi's centre-left coalition, ranging from communists to centrist Roman Catholics, won the elections by the smallest margin in modern Italian history.

On paper his coalition has only a two-seat majority in the upper house of parliament, the Senate, although it should also be able to count on the support of several life-senators who are appointed by the president, not elected.
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http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyid=2006-04-29T163632Z_01_L28573506_RTRUKOC_0_US-ITALY.xml

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Thought he'd never leave.