After losing the election last month, the Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, the longest-serving PM in Italy since WWII, finally resigned.
Berlusconi lost the elections to left-wing Romano Prodi four weeks ago, but has contested the outcome of the election. He even said that he would challenge the results in court.
However, just a few hours ago, Berlusconi accepted his loss and handed his resignation to President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi. After a short meeting at the presidential palace, the presidential office confirmed this in an official statement.
It may well be that Italy will have a new government at the end of this week. Berlusconi will stay on as caretaker PM until the new government is installed.
Prodi said in a statement that he was happy that Berlusconi finally resigned and that he hoped a new government would be formed soon by President Ciampi.
