Former leader of the Italian government Silvio Berlusconi said, in his third appearance on television in three days, that he returned to politics because Italy “needs him”.
“You need me, and I always jump to help those in need,” Berlusconi said during a lengthy interview with the TV channel RAI Uno when asked if he is the new candidate for prime minister in February.
According to Berlusconi, who led Italy during three mandates as Prime Minister in nearly 20 years, if the country continues on the current path, “we will reach three million unemployed, the government will have to raise taxes and we will be like Greece on the brink of civil war”.
Berlusconi, aged 76, criticized again the austerity policy adopted by the government of technocrats led by Mario Monti, appointed in November 2011 to replace it when him when he lost the absolute majority in parliament and the country was in danger of being seriously affected by the euro crisis.
“With the austerity policies, the situation has worsened,” said Berlusconi, when asked by his friend Bruno Vespa, during the show “Porta a Porta” to be broadcast on Tuesday night.
Berlusconi has once again brought into question the threat of a eurozone exit of Italy: “If Germany is not convinced that the ECB (European Central Bank) is the central bank, if taxes will not drop and if we fail to find financing, we will be constrained, even if it would affect the euro area, to abandon the euro and return to our currency to be competitive.”
Berlusconi, who has started in early December his sixth political campaign, said he was convinced that the Italians were not yet tired of him.
“We will demonstrate it in the election (early legislatures). I have been encouraged not to leave the situation of the country they love deteriorate,”
he added.
The media magnate, owner of three private television stations, said his appearances in three shows in three days “allowed his party to recover 4 points”, recognizing however that there is “more ground to recover.”
His party PdL (People of Freedom Party) dropped to about 15 percent in the polls compared to 38% during his triumphant victory in 2008.
However, while Berlusconi said that Monti is a “center-right liberal” like him, he reiterated his ambiguous proposal to waive his running for another PM mandate if the “Professor” will accept to represent the whole group of parties at the right of the political spectrum.
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