Silvio Berlusconi Has Resigned
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 government of technocrats.
...
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. BBC reminds that it will not be smooth sailing for Monti:
Mr Monti, a well respected economist, is exactly the sort of man that the money markets would like to see take charge at this time of crisis, our correspondent says, but there is significant opposition to him within the country.
The austerity package foresees 59.8bn euros in savings from a mixture of spending cuts and tax rises, with the aim of balancing the budget by 2014. Measures include:
- An increase in VAT, from 20% to 21%
- A freeze on public-sector salaries until 2014
- The retirement age for women in the private sector will gradually rise, from 60 in 2014 until it reaches 65 in 2026, the same age as for men
- Measures to fight tax evasion will be strengthened, including a limit of 2,500 euros on cash transactions
- There will be a special tax on the energy sector
On Wednesday, the interest rate on 10-year Italian government bonds touched 7%, the rate at which Greece, Ireland and Portugal were forced to seek bailouts from the EU.
Indeed, Italy not known for any easy political consensus, will likely make a transition government difficult:
Even as preparations for a transition begin, signs of opposition have appeared, with Berlusconi's PDL party split between factions ready to accept a Monti government and others deeply opposed. Berlusconi had a working lunch with Monti before the vote, suggesting the outgoing government will not try to block a quick handover, but the attitude of the center-right as a whole remains unclear. The PDL's main coalition ally, the regional pro-devolution Northern League, has declared it will go into opposition, underlining the risk that the new government will lack the broad parliamentary support it will need to pass deep reforms. "The convulsions in the center-right at the prospect of a government led by Mario Monti signal a danger: that a divided coalition may be tempted to unload its divisions on the country," the daily Corriere della Sera said. The center-left Democratic party and smaller centrist parties have pledged support to Monti. Italy's main business and banking associations and some of the moderate trade unions have also called for a government of national unity.
Nonetheless, as Reuters with shows with the immediate reaction from Rome, people seem happy... if even for a few hours.
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.
Follow the developments in real time at the Corriere site:
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Hasta la bye bye fuck face.........Only if Gaddafi did the same thing he would have one less sword up his ass...
BULLISH¿
¿ ¿
¿
???
he's out on the loose now... hide yo kids, hide yo wife! he gonna rape errrbody!
This is one man – now he is gone. Soooo everything is OK now … all the debt is gone….. New debt will replace the old debt and …. everything is OK [second time] aaah yeah riiiight….. LOOK! LOOK! Over there, there is a monster coming …..[sneak off to the left or right – or where ever]
Bingo! Replacing Bunga-Bunga with an arch-globalist (European Chairman of David Rockefeller's Trilateral Commission; senior Bilderberg Advisor and 24 times attendee at Bilderberg Conferences; president of a university that includes a 'Model United Nations' for high school students as part of its outreach program; Italian 'Senator For Life'; advisor to Goldman Sachs;....) is going to solve exactly what!?!
FFS, this is a supreme example of why democracy and its bastard spawn, the European Experiment, is a big fail.
PS. How does one become a 'Senator for life' in a 'democracy'? ... it sounds like the kind of job I'd like!!!
Ah the world will surely miss him, there aren't too many of the world's leaders willing or even capable of blaming a complete financial collapse on drug taking traders now are there.
Such a shrewd mind, when you think about it...
Not...
'he's out on the loose now'...' - like Tony Blair, he'll be off to JPM on a multi million dollar salary. Mission accomplished...
Winning by fucking up!!!
shit's all coming apart anyhow, why would he want to preside over it?
I often think things are pretty fucked up. Then I wonder if they can actually get any MORE fucked up. In spite of what my fairly creative self can conjure up, a little voice in the back of my mind keeps telling me that things can always get even more fucked up. And then, BAM!, just like the little voice said, things get even more fucked up.
If you think things are fucked up now, just give it some time. It will get worser. The worsest is still to come.
What's laughable is they think those 5 little bullet points are going to make a dent in the Italian debt problem.
Mr Monti, a well respected economist, is exactly the sort of man that the money markets would like to see take charge at this time of crisis
Monti is an insider picked by the banking cartel. His job is ensure the banks are taken care of first, screwing the Italian middle class. That's why he only needs 5 bullet points.
It's the same play that is going on in Greece. Get a banker-buddy in charge to put the final nail in the coffin.
Exactly, they both have similar resumes. Looks like the banking cartel means business. More europeans will get screwed. Same as it ever was.
seems the eye-tally-onions all have an IQ of less than 100 each! laugh and cheer, they'll use sylvio as a scape goat, while getting spaghetti shoved up where the sun don't shine!
Exactly.
Why stay?
They aren't going to fix their deficit and there will be enormous opposition to any attempts. Italian bond yields are going up and there is nothing to stop them other than 100% German surrender to ECB printing.
There Is No Constituency For Austerity. Ever.
errr, like he had a choice? Shit has been coming apart for millennia in Europe- just because some sordid little tramp resigns everyone thinks it’s curtains, its hilarious - this is a positive…a big one. Give me a technocrat government any day, sounds good to me.
My Italian sucks. I am still trying to decide if the graphic above translates "Berlusconi leaves; reaches out to Monti", or "Berlusconi leaves; heads for the hills".
Or has Tyler gone multi-lingual with the double entendres?
Apple has a new app out for current politicians called 'iResign'.
It is a sequel to a previous app called 'iFuckedUp'
US chamber of commerce has successfully lobbied the congress to ban the app in united states while allowing another app for American workers 'iGotScrewed'
I' m quite sad.
Say what you will about him.
But the man actually threw a great fuck party.
How many people can say that?
http://fucklloydblankfein.blogspot.com
Lasciarlo dorme con i pesci
or
La morte e la distruzione sono presto di seguire
English, dude, English.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AFasYNOifk
Arrivederci, Roma.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-prQ8AE_nvY
Or try this delicious, dolce version.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dhgu6geljY&feature=related
Or Chet Atkins version of Arrivederci, Roma.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBj2xF294p4&feature=related
Il Duce II
Gone without a coup
Wonda who'll replace him
Prolly 'nother Il Duce too.
I'm reading this post while taking il Duce............
why?
http://expose2.wordpress.com
Gaddafi had a chance to ride off into the sunset with a ton of gold and no military conflict would have had to happen..... http://www.metro.co.uk/news/879734-new-footage-shows-gaddafi-being-sexua...
Thug: Mama Mia!
Mario Monti
Educated Yale (Keynesian)
Professor Turin Bocconi (25 yrs)
Technocrat EC since 1994
Member Tri Lateral Commission, European Chair, Bilderberger Steering Committee
Nothing like a Great replacement!!!! This world is sooooo Controlled!!!
you are not well informed
Mr Belusconi said through a spokesperson "After very careful consideration, I have decided to spend more time on my Bunga Bunga activities and enjoy my billions, especially now that I have been able to stack the system in favor of my media empire's virtual monopoly". He added "Who needs more of this shit".
IS THERE MORE THAN ONE VERSION OF THIS WEBSITE ?
HOW COME I GET ONLY THE EURO VERSION DAILY ! ! ! ! !
OR DOES FUCKALL HAPPEN ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE OCEAN WORTH THE ATTENTION OF THIS TURDON CROWD
yeah, its berlusconi that was the problem. sure. as is often stated here....good luck with that.....
Nope, he wasn't THE problem, but he sure is a twisted son of a bitch.
Bye, bye, bunga man.
maybe he was a son of a bitch, but he sure wasnt merkozys bitch.
There goes one of the more honest heads of state in the EU.. still corrupt and feckless though
precisely. if im from italy id rather have a corrupt and feckless italian leader, not a take it in the ass from merkozy, corrupt and feckless euro leader....
Italia is nothing without the roman empire.
Same with Portugal, Spain, France.....
Europe ain't shit without her slaves and old ruins from glory imperialism days for Asian and Arab tourists.
UK holding on with her ownership of Canada, Australia, etc.....
American is practicing a new form of colonialism which imports slaves from Mexico while maintaining manufacturing in China.
Watchu mean derez Puerto Rico.
(and them other 7 states that O visited)
Will the new boss really be any different from the old boss?
You realize, of course, that identification with a leader is highly barbaric. Right?
And he will be replaced by another corrupt sycophant with megalomania.
...the world turns
tradeonfire.blogspot.com
The best they could do for Monti was 'technocrat'?
The young Italians love techno.
Monti is...
A safe pair of hands
Onside kick?
Thing is, the masses are so happy bunga bunga is finally out that Monti will have a few months of fucking them over before people start noticing again. Once the focus is shifted to him, just rinse, repeat.
There... democratic government model definition at it's best.
After he secretly transfers the wealth to the banks right in front of everyone is he going to be called Three card Monti?
+1
Risk On. Tuesday. Risk Off.
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday - No volume melt up.
By Wednesday we'll have 1.45 €/$
This the first ACTUAL event and not a rumor/lie. Markets will selloff simply because it's been so long since they've experienced a real news event.
My take is that this was discounted two weeks ago (and then some). In fact, I'd say markets have discounted a Vatican miracle.
Funny how the iTalians are so happy about replacing one government goon with another but, no one seems to be talking about the new austerity mesasures.
I give it two weeks before Rome starts to look like Totenham circa 6/9/11.
This will not stop Italy splitting into two countries. As a matter of fact it may speed up the process.
The same thing is coming to Amerika. We will split up the states as did the old Soviet union.
Stock up NOW on Beans, Bullets, and Bullion, Bitchez.
http://www.resist.com/CWII.pdf
I want NOTHING to do with blacks and jews. I won't be robbed by them. And I will not subsidize them which is the equivalent of subsidizing my own demise. I hate them more and more everyday as I aim to ebb their negative influence in my life as much as possible.
Please leave America, we don't want your kind here. (Your kind being mindless bigots)
fuck you, YOU leave. Go live with blacks in Africa, seein as you love them so much.
You have no idea how mindfucked you are, do you?
You racist piece of shit
Why don't you go back and tend to your racist colony.
trav
Can you tell me specifically why you hate black people so much?
Max Fischer, Civis Mundi
be fair - he hates jews and other ethnic groups just as much. History is replete sadly, with folks who, for one reason or another, need to place all of society's plus their own problems at a select number of doorsteps. Some call it stupidity, some call it racism, others think its a smorGASboard of psychological shorts.
The coming break up has nothing to do with blacks and Jews. It's the economics and culture. The progressives in both the democrat and republican parties have divided this nation. One prime example is the fallacy of separation of Church and State in the Constitution. It's not and never has been in it. That alone has set in motion many other fallacy’s such as Abortion being a right in the Constitution as well. The Constitution is no longer being followed and even the Supreme Court who's sole function is to protect it and see that it's followed no longer does it's job. Too many that now sit on that court no longer have any respect for it at all and see themselves as the final arbitrators of of laws created by oligarchs. As for a blood letting Civil War after the break up begins, that will never happen. The North East and West Coast would just as well see the South and Mid West go their own way and good riddance to them. They are nothing more than stumbling blocks on the way to their dreams of a Socialist Utopia.
Offering rational thought to a crank is like offering the keys to a Ferrari to a four-year-old blind kid.
who owns the fed? a bunch of old wascally wasps?
"The coming break up has nothing to do with blacks and Jews."
Did this guy's account just get compromised by MillionDollarBonus?
LJS = lunatic fringe
You are entitled to your opinion Outlaw and I would only take issue with you about the blacks. When you look at history and the faces of the elite families and their sycophants, the faces of the banksters, the military industrial complex, the NWO - all white as far as the eye can see. This is who you are really subsidizing.
Peace.
what does it mean to be white?
Hate the sin, not the sinner.
but it is the sinner who commits the sin...
or stating in other words: committing the sin makes you a sinner
the only people i hate are crooked politicians....
>> what does it mean to be white?
For me it's been skin cancer and a latter life of seeking out the shade. Early in my career doors opened pretty easy for me. Getting white pussy was the norn. I wouldn't really want to find out where I'd be right now if I hadn't been.
Dear Sir,,
At least one is black, or at least, shall we say mulat?
Kind Regards,
sad...
get informed !
these were / are not white but jews-masons...
when the new world order kicks into high gear, then one will see who is white etc etc...........believe me. when they have complete control, it will be like the ukraine during ww2 all over again. when in doubt , read the book, "200 years together" which is mostly available on the web thanks to translators who have worked tirelessly to get this changed over to english........
Prof. MacDonald claims that one of the most consistent ways in which Jews have advanced their interests has been to promote pluralism and diversity -- but only for others. Ever since the 19th century, they have led movements that tried to discredit the traditional foundations of gentile society: patriotism, racial loyalty, the Christian basis for morality, social homogeneity, and sexual restraint. At the same time, within their own communities, and with regard to the state of Israel, they have often supported the very institutions they attack in gentile society.
http://www.csulb.edu/~kmacd/review-AR.html
Twat.
divide et regere
and as is increasingly seen even here, Z, will end with them yet again reigning . . .
on the just and unjust alike
FEAR when they again lay the race bait
already taken
Dear Sir,
Please leave Bob Marley out of it.
Kind Regards,
Hello Dasa Slooofoot. Did you have a chance to read America Vanquished, America under Jewish Rule? If so what is your opinion on this expose.
http://www.darkmoon.me/2011/america-vanquished-part-1-america-as-an-isra...
quit hating them, that should ebb the influence.
@liberal sodomy, I love it that your back! You set the baseline for stupid.
@yabyum. It should be "I love it that you're back!"
Anyway, I'm not back because I didn't go anywhere. Been right here all the time. So your enthusiasm for my "return" is misplaced.
As for the rest .... sticks and stones, man, sticks and stones.....
He looks sad or is getting sum oral bunga.
Meet the new Boss, same as the old Boss.
Next in line: Sarkozy.
Now maybe the attention can be turned back to the US debt crisis where the 2 six-packs currently meeting are trying to hold off another US debt downgrade. Deadline is November 23rd.
stateside
The Democrat six-pack walked out revealing the hoax for what it is/was.
http://www.infowars.com/dominique-strauss-kahn-linked-to-french-prostitution-scandal/