Italian Prime Minister to resign

The Italian President’s office today said in a statement that Berlusconi told President Giorgio Napolitano that he will resign after the new budget law is approved.

"Once this engagement is fulfilled, the Prime Minister will hand in his mandate to the head of state who will proceed with appropriate consultations, paying close attention to the positions and proposals of all political forces," the statement said.

Napolitano said Berlusconi was aware of the consequences of a vote in parliament on Tuesday in which his centre-right coalition failed to secure a majority in the lower house, Reuters reports.

Sky news and CNN also report Berlusconi will resign after the budget vote, despite the Prime Minister himself has already denied the reports. Faced with a budget vote today, Berlusconi won the vote but lost his overall majority in the country’s parliament.

Berlusconi won support for his budget measures in the lower house after the opposition abstained, but he only got 308 votes - eight short of a majority, Sky News said.

Calls for Berlusconi’s resignation came both from Opposition leader Pier Luigi Bersani and ally Umberto Bossi, of the Northern League leader. “We asked him to step aside, take a step to the side,” Bossi told reporters. He added that Berlusconi should be replaced by Angelino Alfano, secretary of the premier's PDL party.