Berlusconi to stand down as Italian PM
Wednesday April 20, 2005
Silvio Berlusconi will today resign as the Italian prime minister in a gesture intended to win the support of two rebel coalition partners for a new government, Agence France Presse has reported.
The move is a formality - Mr Berlusconi must resign as the head of the present government before he can form a new one - but it means Italy is now unlikely to have early elections.
He will address the two houses of the Italian parliament at 3.30pm local time (1430 BST), and is expected to tender his resignation either when speaking or soon afterwards.
Two former coaltion partners, the Union of Christian Democrats (UDC) and the rightwing National Alliance (AN), said they would support a new government under Mr Berlusconi if he announced sweeping policy changes and appointed different ministers.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/italy/story/0,12576,1464220,00.html?gusrc=ticker-103704
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