The prolonged arguments over Italy's election result were finally resolved yesterday when Silvio Berlusconi handed in his resignation to President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi in Rome.
Romano Prodi, leader of the centre-left coalition, will now be appointed prime minister, perhaps this week. This was quite predictable following the supreme court's endorsement of the declared result, notwithstanding Mr Berlusconi's persistent efforts to find a way round it.
The appointment of Franco Marini as chairman of the senate over the weekend copperfastened the outcome.
Despite his narrow victory Mr Prodi deserves this opportunity to govern Italy. He has two main policy platforms, which will sorely test his tiny majority and variegated coalition.
It is commonly agreed by the parties involved in the coalition that Italy faces very difficult economic circumstances requiring tough decisions about budget reforms and economic competitiveness.
Already credit agencies have responded adversely to the likelihood of a delay of several weeks until President Ciampi is replaced, and to the prospect that certain members of the coalition will resist far-reaching structural reforms. It is much too soon to draw such pessimistic conclusions and it should be remembered that Mr Prodi effectively steered Italy into the euro during his previous term as prime minister in 1996-98.
His second task is to repair the political and ethical damage done to Italy's democratic fabric during the Berlusconi years in office. To a remarkable extent the outgoing prime minister concentrated legislative efforts on measures with a direct bearing on his media, business and legal interests as Italy's richest man. They included establishing effective control over much of the country's state television channels, in addition to the near monopoly of private broadcasting his company has enjoyed over the last 20 years. A relentless diet of commercial pap shores up this empire of right-wing ideology, with critics portrayed as communist stooges and regulatory authorities rendered toothless.
Similar self-serving measures were enacted to decriminalise accountancy fraud, accelerate the statute of limitations and transfer trials from court to court on grounds of judicial bias against companies associated with Mr Berlusconi. The new electoral law under which these elections were held was also blatantly partisan in inspiration, even though it ironically rebounded on the Berlusconi coalition to give Mr Prodi his narrow victory.
The centre-left coalition is pledged to restore judicial independence and constituency-based elections and to legislate on conflicts of interest, in addition to supporting stronger European integration. This is a welcome and necessary political agenda. If it is implemented Mr Prodi's coalition could secure a more solid victory if the country is forced to go back to the polls soon. In the meantime he must show that his coalition can also deliver on his platform of economic reform.