This article is more than 8 years old

This article is more than 8 years old

As Italy's president, Giorgio Napolitano, began hurried consultations on the formation of a new government, Silvio Berlusconi sent a clear message that he intends to return to power.

The first politician summoned by the head of state arrived at the presidential palace at 9am sharp on the morning after Berlusconi was jeered and booed from office there by an exultant crowd of more than 1,000 people.

In a final humiliation, the 75-year-old billionaire, whose government has led Italy to the very brink of financial catastrophe, dodged out of the palace by a side door after submitting his resignation.

But in a message sent to a meeting of a party of neofascist diehards, La Destra, the TV magnate said: "I share your spirit and I hope to resume with you the path of government."

Mario Monti, the economist expected to take Berlusconi's place later on Sunday, made no comment on the send-off given to the outgoing prime minister.

Instead, in response to questions from reporters outside his hotel, he looked up at the clear blue sky and said: "Have you seen what a splendid day it is?"

Monti and his wife, Elsa, then set off for mass – a first, eloquent sign he intends to put behind him the Italy of "bunga bunga" parties and showgirl politicians.

But the showgirls will stay in parliament until the next election, and the attitudes with which Berlusconi imbued the nation will not disappear overnight.

The morning news on the first channel of the state-owned RAI radio network carried a report on the shenanigans outside the presidential palace from which the insults hurled at Berlusconi – "buffoon" and even "mafioso" – were tactfully omitted.

On Saturday, parliament cleared the way for the fall of his government by giving final approval to a package of economic reforms and deficit-reduction measures agreed last month with the EU to stem mounting panic over Italy's ability to repay its €1.9tn (£1.6tn) public debts.

After Berlusconi delayed his resignation, raising fears he might try to cling to power, the interest rate on Italy's government bonds shot above 7% to a level no eurozone state has reached without subsequently needing a bailout.

The consultations held to form a new government in Italy often take a week or more. But Napolitano was aiming to complete them by evening.

The markets' reaction to a Monti government is likely to depend largely on what conditions, if any, Berlusconi's party succeeds in attaching to it. Many in the Freedom People movement would have preferred a snap election which the right, notwithstanding Berlusconi's unpopularity, would stand a good chance of winning.

The People of Freedom party delegates attending the talks with Napolitano can be expected to press for the incoming administration to be constrained by a strict programme, limited to the implementation of the economic package agreed with Brussels, and a deadline for its completion.

According to some reports, the party's representatives may also demand a seat in the cabinet for Berlusconi's right-hand man, Gianni Letta, a former newspaper editor and executive in the media mogul's TV group.

The bitter divisions in Italian politics that are another aspect of Berlusconi's legacy prevented a cross-party grand coalition.

The only career politician thought likely to sit in the new cabinet is Giuliano Amato, as foreign minister. Amato, a socialist, was Italy's prime minister from 1992 to 1993 and from 2000 to 2001.

The all-important job of finance minister was expected to go to Guido Tabellini, the rector of the Bocconi University in Milan, which has supplied Italy with much of its financial elite. Monti both studied and taught there.