Leading article: Let Mr Prodi prepare for government

Published: 02 May 2006

'About time, too" is the only appropriate response to the news that Silvio Berlusconi will finally resign today as Italy's Prime Minister. The election three weeks ago was a cliff-hanger. It showed Italy politically split in two. But it was not so close that there was no winner. Romano Prodi, a former president of the European Commission, has a narrow majority in both houses of the Italian parliament.

By refusing to concede defeat and manoeuvring to keep his job, Mr Berlusconi demonstrated not only that he was an ungracious loser, but that his respect for the democratic process left much to be desired. A keen sense of competitiveness may be part and parcel of being a successful politician, but Mr Berlusconi - like Gerhard Schröder last year in Germany - surely took competitiveness too far. He should have conceded as soon as Italy's Supreme Court rejected his challenge. In the end, Mr Berlusconi gave way only after all his machinations had failed to secure the election of his ally, Giulio Andreotti, as Speaker of the Senate. Now, Mr Prodi 's centre-left alliance not only has majorities in both houses of Parliament, but the allegiance of the two speakers as well. In theory, this should be enough for him to govern.

Article Length: 388 words (approx.)