Berlusconi planning to stand for European elections

Silvio Berlusconi is not giving up. Despite a conviction for tax fraud and a ban on him running for office, the billionaire leader of Italy's centre-right is said to be planning to register as a candidate for European elections and campaign on an anti-German platform.

Renato Brunetta, parliamentary leader of Forza Italia, told the Financial Times that Mr Berlusconi (77) would take his case to appeals courts in Italy's five constituencies if he were prevented from running in the May polls.

The likelihood of Mr Berlusconi getting his name on the ballot paper is widely dismissed by his centre-left rivals, but there is little doubt that the veteran of numerous campaigns will be pulling the strings from behind the scenes in what could be a trial run for general elections in Italy.

Mr Berlusconi lost his final appeal against a conviction for tax fraud involving his Mediaset company last August and was expelled from the senate in November, prompting him to withdraw Forza Italia from prime minister Enrico Letta’s left-right coalition.

And it is only on April 10th that a Milan court is expected to decide if Mr Berlusconi will serve his one-year sentence under house arrest or through community service. Either way, an anti-corruption law passed by the former government of Mario Monti bans certain categories of convicted criminals, which includes Mr Berlusconi, from holding elected office for six years.

Dissident publications
Asked how Mr Berlusconi could run an election campaign under such conditions, Mr Brunetta waved his smartphone and, alluding to the Soviet era of underground dissident publications, replied: "The internet is the modern samizdat.

“With Berlusconi all things that generally appear normal are not normal,” Mr Brunetta added, explaining that for many Italians, his criminal conviction by courts perceived to be acting out of political bias only enhanced his image as a victim.

German chancellor Angela Merkel, who among others in Europe undermined Mr Berlusconi until he was shunted out of office in late 2011, is now in the media mogul’s sights.

“In May we will attack a Germanised Europe,” Mr Brunetta, an economist, added denouncing Germany’s policies with its large current account surplus that he said was enriching northern Europe at the expense of the south. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2014