He may have relinquished the premiership, but Silvio Berlusconi made it clear he would not be leaving the political arena, in a final speech broadcast from the prime minister's residence.
Even as former European commissioner Mario Monti arrived at the presidential palace to accept the challenge of forming a new government, Berlusconi gave a final televised message from the Chigi Palace.
"We are ready to help the president of the Republic (Giorgio Napolitano) to immediately provide the country with a technocratic government," said Berlusconi.
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"We will do our duty. We will form a united front to save the euro and the European Union, but Italy must make the necessary reforms," he added.
Berlusconi reminded viewers that his People of Freedom party held a majority in both houses of parliament.
He was more blunt in comments to his entourage on Saturday, after having had a two-hour lunch with Monti.
"We can pull the plug when we want to," he is reported to have told them.
Although Berlusconi did not lose power in a formal vote of no-confidence, he did lose his overall majority in a budget vote Tuesday.
But after a 17-year domination of Italian politics, 10 of which he spent in power, he made it clear he had no intention of retiring from the political scene.
"I will redouble my efforts in parliament and the institutions to renew Italy," he told viewers.
"I will not give up until we have succeeded in modernising Italy," he added.
"Italy is the country I love," Berlusconi proclaimed, repeating a phrase he famously uttered in his first speech to the Italian people when he entered politics in 1993 -- a decision, he said, that had changed the country's history.
Staying in the political arena not only allows Berlusconi to play his part in the country's recovery. It also also affords him protection from the three court cases he is currently embroiled in.
He is on trial for bribery, for fraud and -- most embarrassingly -- for using an underage prostitute and abuse of power.
But Italy's constitution allows a resigning prime minister to keep his seat as a member of parliament -- and the parliamentary immunity that goes with it.
Berlusconi reminded viewers that he only resigned after having ensured that parliament had passed the reforms he had promised the European Union.
The reforms are aimed at preventing the eurozone's third-largest economy falling into the same debt trap as Greece, Ireland and Portugal -- with analysts observing the country is "too big to bail".
His last act as premier was proof of his "sense of responsibility and of state," said Berlusconi, expressing sadness that such statesmanlike conduct had been greeted "with whistles and insults".
In his customary emotional style, he thanked "all those who have given us affection and support until now".
Not everyone was convinced.
"Berlusconi has no shame!", responded one senator from the Italy of Values party.
"While President Napolitano is meeting Mario Monti, he has the nerve to sit in the Chigi Palace and take up airtime with an umpteenth rambling speech, with no-one to contradict him."
Another centrist opposition MP, Carmelo Briguglio, was more indulgent, calling the broadcast "normal propaganda, maybe inopportune, but legitimate.
"Why deprive an ex-prime minister of his right to give a final message from the Chigi Palace?"
