Berlusconi to Stand Down as Italian PM

[chlamor]

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

[DBoon]

1. Please tell me this is real

please please please

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. Calm down - as the excerpt says, it's just a formality

before he creates a new governmental coalition. The article says the Northern League will have less power in the new coalition.

[joefree1]

9. Uh, and yeah he doesn't want to end up like Mussolini

"In an earlier address to the Senate, Mr. Berlusconi admitted that by punishing the governing majority in regional elections two weeks ago, the country was sending a "signal of discomfort" that he would not ignore."
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/20/international/europe/20cnd-italy.html

His goose is cooked.

Seating now available in the Smoking Section:
Politics, humor, death and the Devil - http://www.eDiablo.com

[bemildred]

2. Cat fight in Berluscolini's coalition. Sounds good.

:thumbsup:

[UTUSN]

3. Oh. Just a Formality. Like All Shrub-related "Elections". n/t

[seemslikeadream]

5. I don't speak Italian but

[alcibiades_mystery]

6. He started down this road earlier in the week

Then pulled a "psych!"

See details here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1402683

He's avoiding elections, but the coalition is crumbling. He'll surely have to resign and form a new coalition this time.

Damn. This is humiliating. He's desperate to avoid national elections.

[bemildred]

7. Italy's Berlusconi Hands in Resignation

ROME Apr 20, 2005 — Premier Silvio Berlusconi handed the president his resignation Wednesday and pledged to form a new government to strengthen his coalition, which has been weakened by a sluggish economy and opposition to Italian involvement in Iraq.

The premier's resignation brings to an end to Italy's longest-serving government since World War II. Berlusconi had been under pressure to resign since a stinging defeat in regional elections earlier this month.

ABC

[pazarus]

8. this is some crazy shit

although their governments are historically unstable. It would be nice if the people of Italy would cite his support of Bush as the reason for their voting against his coalition. I have only heard that as a minor offense right now, the economy being the first.

Berlusconi's death grip on the media might not save him this time... it's inspiring, really.

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

10. Instability.

Well, "instability" in Italian politics is a relative term, because the people in government tend to be the same.

It's not as if every member of Parliament is "gone" after the elections. Coalitions change, ministers change, but the pool of officials remains the same.

So, while it is true that Italian governments are "instable" by the nature of the rules that allow for the forming/collapsing of governments, the parliamentary personnel remains pretty much the same.

[pazarus]

11. yeah, looks like this too

will end up "pretty much the same". I take back everything I said about inspiring. Berlusconi ain't going nowhere. He owns what, 60% of all the media? At least there its official and everyone knows it.

[NYC]

12. Italy is unlikely to have early elections.

That's the way Berlusconi wanted it.

...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...

[antigone382]

13. Guardian - Italian PM bows to pressure to resign

Barbara McMahon in Rome
Thursday April 21, 2005
The Guardian

Silvio Berlusconi resigned as prime minister of Italy yesterday but pledged to form a government with a new programme in an attempt to resolve the political crisis that has engulfed him.
The 69-year-old leader was forced into the move as a way of holding together his faltering four-way conservative coalition, which was threatening to collapse and pitch the country into snap elections.

Mr Berlusconi had been under intense pressure from two allies, the Union of Christian Democrats and the National Alliance, to make sweeping changes to his administration after suffering a heavy defeat in regional elections.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/italy/story/0,12576,1464662,00.html