Silvio Berlusconi, the billionaire media mogul who dominated Italian politics for nearly two decades, has stepped back into the ring at the age of 81 ahead of the March 4 parliamentary elections
Corporate fraud and a sex scandal too
He was forced out of parliament in 2013 after his conviction for corporate tax fraud was upheld by Italy’s highest court. He was also sentenced to seven years for paying for sex with an underage prostitute known as “Ruby the Heart Stealer”, and for abusing his powers to get her off theft charges, pretending she was the niece of then Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak. The Ruby conviction was later overturned by an appeals court
Jews, Nazis and off-colour jokes
Berlusconi has also gained notoriety for his gaffes. In 2010 he offended the Jews when he told a joke about a Jewish family hiding another Jew for a hefty rent, without telling him World War II was over, according to AFP. In 2003, he sparked a fullblown diplomatic crisis with Berlin when, after heckling by Euro-MP Martin Schulz and others at the European Parliament, he said that the German would be perfect to play the role of a Nazi camp guard in a film
Leading in opinion polls
Despite the serial gaffes and legal woes, the tycoon—who is barred from public office owing to the tax fraud conviction—has made an astonishing return from political oblivion to head his centre-right Forza Italia (Go Italy) party, which as part of a rightwing coalition is leading the race for the March 4 vote, according to opinion polls