Sepcial Report: Italy's general election

Italian outgoing Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi waves to the media, May 2, 2006. (Xinhua/AFP photo)

  ROME, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Italian outgoing Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi submitted his resignation to President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi Tuesday, giving the way for center-left leader Romano Prodito form a new government.

    Ciampi "received (Berlusconi) who submitted his resignation from the government he heads," a presidential statement said.

    The president also asked Berlusconi to stay on in a caretaker role until a new government was formed, it added.

    The resignation came weeks after Berlusconi refused to concede defeat in the general election last month, in which the center-left coalition led by Romano Prodi won a razor-thin victory with a margin of 25,000 votes.

    Before Berlusconi arrived the presidential palace Quirinale to formalize his resignation, his cabinet held its final meeting.

    "We completed our program, we were the best government of the republic. They'll be sorry we've gone," he reportedly told outgoing ministers.

    Berlusconi, 69, has run Italy since winning elections in 2001 and his government lasted longer than any other in the nation's postwar history.

    It remains unclear exactly when Prodi will take the reins of power because of a tussle under way between the two blocs over who is to be Ciampi's successor as president, the local media reported.

    Italian governments and premiers are appointed by the president. Ciampi, who must be replaced by May 13, has said he wants his successor to give Prodi his mandate.

    But analysts say Berlusconi's resignation, which was only announced at the weekend, could prompt a change of heart, meaning that Ciampi could appoint Prodi himself.

    After Berlusconi's resigned on Tuesday, 66-year-old Prodi said his government would be born according to "a timetable decided by the president." Enditem