Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti resigned as promised on Friday (21 December) after the Italian parliament adopted the 2013 budget.
"A year ago this government was beginning. Today, on the other hand, we have to end this role and the Mayan prophecy is not to blame," he joked earlier in the day, referring to a widely popularised prediction that the world would end on 21 December 2012.
Once the parliament passed the budget, he filed his resignation to Italian President Giorgio Nap...
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