Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said he would resign on Tuesday, paving the way for a government led by center-left leader Romano Prodi, who won the Italian elections this month.

The media mogul, Italy's richest man, has never formally recognized his defeat in the April 9-10 election, denying his loss and saying he will challenge the results through legal measures. Berlusconi is expected to hand in his resignation to Ciampi after holding a Cabinet meeting Tuesday.

Prodi was preparing Sunday to take the lead of the Italian government, meeting with the leaders of the two largest parties in his coalition. "Between today and tomorrow I will see all party leaders," he told reporters.

"We are pushing ahead with the government lineup so that we can be ready when the president sees fit to give me the mandate." The mandate to form a government is supposed to be given by Italy's president.

President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi's term expires May 18 and he said that this task will be left to his successor, even if some newspapers speculated that Ciampi might give the mandate himself in order to avoid further delays.

Prodi's Cabinet is expected to include many leaders of the parties that make up his center-left coalition in order to ensure their support. Still, some skepticism has arisen that the new government, with members varying from pro-Vatican moderates to communists and secular radicals, will not last.