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Rome. A chorus of Handel’s “Alleluia” rang out on Saturday as Silvio Berlusconi resigned as Italian prime minister, ending a tumultuous 17-year political era and setting in motion a transition aimed at bringing the country back from the brink of economic crisis.

Berlusconi stepped down amid jeers, cheers and heckles of “Buffoon” from thousands of people who packed downtown Rome to witness his government’s downfall after a stunning week of market turmoil that upended his defiant hold on power and threatened to tear apart the euro zone.

Respected former European commissioner Mario Monti remained the top choice to try to steer the country out of its debt woes as the head of a transitional government. But the job is Herculean, given the enormity of reforms required and Italy’s often-paralyzed parliament.

President Giorgio Napolitano held consultations with Italy’s main political forces on Sunday morning before proceeding with the expected request that Monti try to form a new government.

In front of Napolitano’s office, where Berlusconi handed in his resignation late on Saturday, protesters uncorked sparkling wine and danced in a conga line, shouting “We’re free!” Several dozen singers and classical musicians — complete with music stands and chairs — performed Handel’s “Alleluia” to rejoice in the end of Berlusconi’s scandal-marred reign and welcome Monti into office.

“I think he [Monti] is going to bring trust back to Italian people who are losing it, are a bit fed up with what’s going on and have lost the trust and the respect [they had for Berlusconi],” said Sophie Duffort, who was in the piazza on Saturday night.

Berlusconi supporters were also out in force, some singing the national anthem, but they were vastly outnumbered.

His resignation was set in motion after the Chamber of Deputies approved economic reforms demanded by the European Union, which include increasing the retirement age starting in 2026 but do nothing to open up Italy’s inflexible labor market.

The Senate approved the legislation a day earlier and Napolitano signed it into law on Saturday afternoon, paving the way for Berlusconi to leave office as he promised to do after losing his parliamentary majority earlier in the week.

Berlusconi stood as lawmakers applauded him in the parliament chamber immediately after the vote. But outside his office and in front of government palazzos across town, thousands of curiosity-seekers massing to witness his government’s final hours heckled him and his ministers.

“Shame!” and “Get Out!” they yelled as they marched through downtown Rome in a festive indication that for many Italians, like the financial markets, the time had come for Berlusconi to go.

It was an ignoble end for the 75-year-old billionaire media mogul, who came to power for the first time in 1994 by selling Italians on a dream of prosperity with his own personal story of transformation from cruise-ship crooner to Italy’s richest man.

While he became Italy’s longest-serving post-war premier, Berlusconi’s three stints as premier were tainted by corruption trials and accusations that he used his political power to help his business interests.

His last term was marred by sex scandals, “bunga bunga” parties and criminal charges he paid a 17-year-old girl to have sex — accusations he denies.

In the end, his downfall came swiftly. Just last week Berlusconi boldly told a G-20 summit in Cannes, France, he was the only one who could steer Italy out of its economic morass.

A week of battering on the markets and the defection of several party members later, his fate was sealed.

Associated Press