Submitted by Tyler Durden on 11/12/2011 15:52 -0500
Eurozone
Greece
Ireland
Italy
Portugal
Reuters
Silvio Berlusconi
And so an era ends.
BBC reports: Silvio Berlusconi has tendered his resignation as Italian prime minister.
President Giorgio Napolitano is likely to accept his offer and appoint Mario Monti, a technocrat, as his successor.
Mr Berlusconi lost his majority amid an acute debt crisis that threatens the eurozone. He promised to go once MPs had approved new austerity mesasures.
He is Italy's longest-serving post-WWII PM - having dominated political life for 17 years. His premiership has recently been marred by many scandals.
Crowds gathered outside the parliament, shouting "Resign" and "Bye bye Silvio". Later, groups outside the president's and prime minister's offices shouted abuse, calling Mr Berlusconi a "buffoon".
The outgoing prime minister said he felt "embittered" after hearing the insults.
After losing his parliamentary majority on Tuesday, Berlusconi promised to resign after austerity measures, demanded by the EU and designed to restore markets' confidence in the country's economy, were passed by both houses of parliament.
Members of the lower house voted 380-26 with two abstentions on Saturday, a day after the Senate approved the measures that have now been signed into law.
After accepting Mr Berlusconi's resignation, Mr Napolitano is expected to formally ask Mr Monti or another candidate to form a
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/silvio-berlusconi-has-resigned-afte-17-years-prime-minister?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+zerohedge%2Ffeed+%28zero+hedge+-+on+a+long+enough+timeline%2C+the+survival+rate+for+everyone+drops+to+zero%29
Realist - Everybody in America is soft, and hates conflict. The cure for this, both in politics and social life, is the same -- hardihood. Give them raw truth.
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