Italy’s Berlusconi May Be Making a Return to Politics
When Silvio Berlusconi resigned after dominating Italy’s political scene for two decades, he left a country in financial shambles and a personal legacy tarnished by sex and corruption scandals.
Commentators called it the end of an era.
Eight months later, the political world is abuzz with signs that the 75-year-old media mogul is plotting a return to power that even his closest allies had considered impossible.
Even as his one-time friend, now bitter foe Gianfranco Fini appeared incredulous in a television interview Thursday night — saying “Italians no longer believe in miracles” — Berlusconi’s allies were talking him up.
“He’s our strongest candidate,” said Angelino Alfano, a former justice minister previously considered as Berlusconi’s heir apparent.
Berlusconi himself has yet to commit. But his friends are now openly calling him a candidate and spreading reports that business leaders are pushing him to enter the race for elections next spring. He reportedly has designed a new symbol with a patriotic touch for his party — a kite in the Italian tricolor.