Italian prime minister resigns

[cal04]

Italy's president accepted Prime Minister Romano Prodi's resignation on Wednesday following the government's defeat in a Senate vote on foreign policy.

Prodi, in power for nine months, went to the Quirinale (president's palace) after a cabinet crisis meeting.

President Giorgio Napolitano, the supreme arbiter of Italian politics, will hold talks with party leaders on Thursday to discuss the way forward.

Divided over the Afghan war and ties with the U.S. military, Prodi's center-left government was unable to secure enough votes for a motion backing Rome's foreign policy.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/02/21/italy.vote.reut/index.html

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200702/s1853689.htm
thank you maddezmom for the update and link

[Greeby]

1. Well, that was short-lived

Shrub-loving crook Berlusconi gets 5 years, Prodi loses a vote and he's gone in less than year. :eyes:

[Zynx]

10. Normal Italian PM term. They go through governments like water.

[maddezmom]

2. CNNI reporting Italian president accepts Prodi's resignation

[cal04]

7. thanks maddezmom

I'll try to find a link to update
:hi:

[maddezmom]

12. something should be up soon on CNN...they have a breaking banner up now

Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi quits after resignation accepted by country's president, news wires say.
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/02/21/wednesday/index.html

:hi:

[maddezmom]

14. here's an updated link: Italian president accepts Prodi's resignation

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200702/s1853689.htm

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

3. Does That Mean Berlusconi Will Get Back Into Power?

FUCK!

[maddezmom]

6. according to the reporter on CNNI, it's possible

:argh:

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

9. This World SUCKS!!

We're all doomed. I see no hope when good people seem to be leaving power, while Corrupt & EVIL ones like Berlusconi continue to have chances at surviving and thriving.

Combine that with the fact we can't even get a good guy like Al Gore to lead our country, and are left with people like Hillary or McCain.

[lebkuchen]

20. I doubt it.

Prodi's "good-will gesture" to the US in allowing Berlusconi's approval of base expansion at Camp Ederle contributed to up-ending his career. Protests were massive last week.

Berlusconi involved Italy in Iraq, and his buddy-buddy relationship w/Bush, not to mention all the corruption they have both been involved in, didn't endear Berlusconi to public approval. Nothing's going to change that opinion.

[acmavm]

4. Oh crap, for a minute I was wondering if that meant that the

shit stain on the human race Berlusconi could make a comeback. And now I'm really worried about it.

[BayCityProgressive]

5. wow he didn't last long

revolution is breaking out everywhere.

[blitzen]

8. about average length term for an Italian PM...

the fascist Berlusconi was an exception

[BayCityProgressive]

11. Is there any chance

he can be replaced with another lefty?

[blitzen]

17. from what i've gathered reading a couple Italian newspapers...

it looks like they're maneuvering to keep Prodi's governing coalition...but it seems that no one really knows what will happen

[ben_meyers]

13. Nothing new here

Since the republic was founded in 1946, Italy has had 59 administrations, lasting less than a year on average. Berlusconi's coalition, which was formed in June 2001, tied the record of 1,059 days in power on Tuesday.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2004/05/06/2003154337

[lebkuchen]

15. If this means no more US expansion of the Dal Molin Air Field,

then Bush may be headed back to Germany, where he started. He left a country that wanted Americans but didn't want to involve troops in Iraq. Italy doesn't want Iraq nor American expansion.

What a mess.

http://www.ansa.it/site/notizie/awnplus/english/news/2007-02-16_11661481.html

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

16. Water is still wet, the earth is round...

Nothing surprising, to be sure. But there was a very large protest near one of the largest U.S. bases in Italy, against more U.S. bases on Italian soil. Yet, while the people agree on the direction of foreign policy, the politicians themselves keep on arguing about minutiae.

We Italians know well, however, that even though a specific government may 'fall' the people stay pretty much the same. In other words, ho-hum.

[IndianaGreen]

18. Oh G-d, not Berlusconi again!

Prodi should have done what Zapatero did in Spain and cut his ties with the US. Prodi has also waffled on the prosecution of CIA agents indicted for kidnapping.

[lebkuchen]

19. Prodi said he would reconsider Berlusconi's approval of US base expansion

Then he approved it as a good will gesture. Meanwhile, the effort to put the issue to a referendum failed by one vote. W/a population of 107,000 people in Vicenza and "tens of thousands" showing up to protest, Prodi grossly underestimated Italians' determination. Now he's political toast.

FYI,

A Town Hall Meeting was held in Vicenza on 12 January 2007. The future status of the Vicenza Military Community was the focus of the meeting:

Cold War - 400,000 troops; current - 55,000; future - 28,000.

Cold War - 800 installations; current - 240; future - 88 (2 major combat units, one scheduled for Grafenwoehr and one for Vicenza.

SETAF is a much needed force south of the Alps.

The consolidation of the unit for Vicenza will happen only if the Italian government agrees to let us use Dal Molin.

$500 million funding is available for multiple construction projects--at Vicenza only.

But at the present time, MG Helmick has stopped all projects until some firm decision has been made. He said that he cannot justify spending such huge sums of money on projects where there will be so few US personnel to utilize the facilities.

US Ambassador has given the Italian government until 19 January 2007 to render a decision.

If the decision is YES, then SETAF will remain here, and the consolidation will begin to expand the Army in Vicenza. Dal Molin will be an expansion of Camp Ederle, and there will be many new jobs.

If the decision is NO, then SETAF will begin immediately to consolidate in another location -- probably Germany, where there already is an under-utilized infrastructure. Rumania and Bulgaria, now considered the center of Europe, also are under consideration.

Congress immediately will reclaim the $500 million for other stateside projects (TX was mentioned).

If the decision is NO, then Camp Ederle will change dramatically. By 2008, no new troops will be sent to Camp Ederle. There will be major PCS moves out, and the current strength at Camp Ederle will be reduced to 30%.

By 2010, we won't be here, and Camp Ederle will be totally different than what it is today.

MG Helmick said: With or without a positive decision, we're moving on. This is a political decision, which will have a far-reaching impact on the local community.

On or after 19 February MG Helmick will be able to speak definitively about the future of the Vicenza Military Community. Until then, let's squash any such rumor about base closures and/or military pull-outs.