意总理贝卢斯科尼正式辞职

Silvio Berlusconi has resigned as prime minister of Italy, after dominating the country's politics for 17 years.

统治意大利政治17年之后，总理贝卢斯科尼正式辞职。

President Giorgio Napolitano accepted his offer and is likely to appoint technocrat Mario Monti 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 measures.

Crowds celebrated outside the presidential palace, shouting "buffoon（丑角） " as he entered.

The BBC's Alan Johnston in Rome says Mr Berlusconi's last journey as prime minister was an undignified one.

Police struggled to control a large, hostile crowd which booed（发出嘘声） and jeered（嘲笑，戏弄） as his convoy swept by, and after his resignation he left by a side exit to avoid the protesters.

He said he felt "embittered（愤怒的） " after hearing the insults.

Mr Berlusconi is Italy's longest-serving post-war prime minister. His premiership has recently been marred by many scandals.

He is a consummate（至上的，完美的） survivor, our correspondent says, but he was overwhelmed by the scale of the financial crisis which has engulfed Italy.

After losing his parliamentary majority on Tuesday, Berlusconi promised to resign when 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.