Berlusconi to resign Tuesday

Source: CCTV.com

04-30-2006 16:10

The Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, says he'll resign on Tuesday - finally conceding defeat after the general election three weeks ago. The move came after his opponent Romano Prodi won his first parliamentary battle when candidates from his center-left coalition were elected speakers of both houses of parliament.

Outside his residence in Rome, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi confirmed that he plans to tender his resignation to President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi after a cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

Berlusconi said: "We have decided to call a council of ministers meeting at 12:30 on Tuesday, and then, at 1:30, at the end of the council meeting, I will go to see Ciampi to resign."

A new President of the Italian Republic is due to be chosen in just over a week, when President Ciampi's mandate expires.

Silvio Berlusconi says his center-right coalition will nominate Gianni Letta, the cabinet undersecretary, as one of three names for the post.

The resigning Prime Minister was also at pains to stress that he still believes that his coalition won the people's mandate.

Berlusconi said: "From a political point of view, Prodi won the consensus, but then the numbers are different and we comply because we are democratic, but inside we remain convinced that the majority prize has been wrongly assigned."

Berlusconi and his center-right coalition narrowly lost the general election to Romano Prodi's center-left parties on April the ninth and tenth.

Editor:Wang Ping