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Italy looks set for lengthy political uncertainty after Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's pledge to resign, with his center-right party calling for elections and the main opposition for a national unity government.

After failing to secure the majority in a vote in the lower house, Berlusconi said he would quit as soon as parliament passed budget reforms urged by European partners to help Italy stave off a debt crisis that is threatening the euro zone.

"We no longer have the majority we believed we had so we need to recognize this and concern ourselves with what is happening on markets ... we need to show markets we are serious," Berlusconi told Italian television by telephone.

Votes to pass the reforms in both houses of parliament are likely this month, and opposition leaders may try to bring this forward in order to end as soon as possible the flamboyant billionaire media tycoon's 17-year dominance of Italy.

Berlusconi has confirmed he won't run again for office and says his hand-picked successor Angelino Alfano will be his party's candidate when Italy holds new elections.

Once Berlusconi steps down, President Giorgio Napolitano must begin consultations to form a new government. Berlusconi wants elections in early 2012. He told La Stampa daily: "I won't be a candidate, actually I feel liberated. It's Alfano's turn."

Worries about the Berlusconi government's ability to implement reforms to boost Italy's sluggish growth and cut its huge debt have helped fuel a rise in Italy's borrowing costs to unsustainable levels, weighing on the euro and stock markets.

Global equity markets and the euro rose after Berlusconi's decision on hopes that a new leader will act more aggressively to tackle the crisis in the eurozone's third largest economy that is jeopardizing Europe's single currency project.

The 75-year-old prime minister and his party say an election is the only realistic next step, but opposition leaders have called for the formation of a national unity.

（中國日報網英語點津 Helen 編輯）

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Lee Hannon is Chief Editor at China Daily with 15-years experience in print and broadcast journalism. Born in England, Lee has traveled extensively around the world as a journalist including four years as a senior editor in Los Angeles. He now lives in Beijing and is happy to move to China and join the China Daily team.