Silvio Berlusconi Resigns as Prime Minister of Italy

ROME — Silvio Berlusconi, who spent nearly two decades atop the world of Italian politics, resigned Saturday night after lawmakers rushed through a budget bill seen as the first step toward winning back investor confidence and preventing the collapse of the world’s eighth-largest economy.

The resignation ends a political era punctuated by headlines of Berlusconi’s “bunga bunga” sex parties and a litany of colorful gaffes. Ultimately forced out of office by a debt crisis instead of personal scandal, the flamboyant billionaire’s departure appeared to be paving the way for a staid, serious economist, Mario Monti, to attempt to form an interim government here and try to pull Italy back from the brink.

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