Italy jubilant over PM's resignation

ROME: Crowds gathered at government buildings on Saturday celebrating the imminent departure of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi after parliament cleared the way for his resignation by approving a budget aimed at rescuing Italy from financial crisis.Hundreds of demonstrators waving banners mocking Berlusconi flocked to the president's residence at the Quirinale Palace and shouted "clown, clown, clown" as the motorcade carrying the billionaire media entrepreneur who has been Italy's longest serving prime minister entered.Berlusconi arrived at the palace, which was under heavy security, to formally hand his resignation to President Giorgio Napolitano and bring an end to one of the most scandal-plagued periods in recent Italian history.An orchestra near the palace played the Hallelujah chorus from Handel's Messiah. "We are here to rejoice," one of the musicians said.Demonstrators chanting "resign, resign, resign" also gathered outside the prime minister's office and parliament, heckling ministers as they walked between the two buildings.A small group of pro-Berlusconi demonstrators gathered outside his residence but were outnumbered by opponents."This is something that deeply saddens me," the Italian news agency Ansa quoted Berlusconi as telling aides.Once Berlusconi steps down, former European Commissioner Mario Monti is expected to be given the task of trying to form an administration to manage an escalating financial crisis.Italy, the euro zone's third largest economy, came close to disaster this week when yields on 10-year bonds soared over 7.6 percent, the kind of level which forced Ireland, Portugal and Greece to seek an international bailout.Berlusconi, who failed to secure a majority in a vote on Tuesday, promised to resign once parliament passed the package of economic reforms demanded by European partners to restore confidence in Italy's battered public finances."We are waiting for the end, we are waiting for the end of the Berlusconi era, we hope it is going to be the end," said Rome resident Angela Lanza.Monti, named by Napolitano as a Senator for Life on Wednesday, is expected to appoint a relatively small cabinet of technocrat specialists to steer Italy through the crisis.With the next election not due until 2013, a technocrat government could have about 18 months to pass painful economic reforms but will need to secure the backing of a majority in parliament and could fall before then.With a public debt of more than 120 percent of gross domestic product and more than a decade of anaemic economic growth behind it, Italy is at the heart of the euro zone debt crisis and would be too big for the bloc to bail out.Financial markets have backed a Monti government and as prospects of Berlusconi going became firmer last week, yields dropped below the critical 7 percent level, although they remain close."We don't yet have a new government in Italy and we have to wait, but I'm sure if Mario Monti will be appointed he will do whatever is necessary in order to restore the confidence of the financial markets in Italy," Alessandro Profumo, former head of Unicredit, Italy's largest bank, told Reuters. AGENCIES