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Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi during the taping of the television program Porta a Porta - Source: Reuters -
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Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi hit back at his
critics, saying he is far and away the best leader in Italian
history and has never considered resigning over scandals concerning
his private life.
In a spirited performance even by his own standards, the 72-year
media tycoon also attacked Spanish daily El Pais for its critical
coverage, denied paying for sex and said a prostitute who taped an
encounter with him could face 18 years in prison.
"I sincerely believe I am by far the best prime minister Italy has
had in its 150 year history (since unification in 1861),"
Berlusconi said in televised news conference in Sardinia with
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.
In answer to a reporter from El Pais, he dismissed as calumnies
reports he had benefited from a prostitution ring and said he was
the victim of escort Patrizia D'Addario who made tapes of what she
said was a night spent with him.
Berlusconi, whose wife is seeking a divorce over his womanising,
has never denied sleeping with D'Addario but has said he did not
pay her and did not know she was a prostitute.
"Never in my life, not even once, have I had to pay for a sexual
encounter," Berlusconi said.
"And I'll tell you why: for someone who loves to conquer, the
greatest joy is the conquest, so I ask, 'if you pay, what joy can
there be?'"
This philosophy helped to explain why Italians like me and I have
68.4% of approval and admiration, said Berlusconi, who has been
elected three times and is now the longest-serving leader in
Italian post-war history.
When Berlusconi apologised to Zapatero for his lengthy answer, the
Spanish leader said there was no need and it was very
interesting.
For the first time Berlusconi threatened to take legal action
against D'Addario, saying she had committed four crimes which could
carry a total of 18 years imprisonment.
D'Addario, responding in a short statement issued by her lawyers,
challenged Berlusconi to a public debate either about our specific
affair or more generally about relations between men and women,
techniques of conquest, sex and power.
Berlusconi's lawyer is suing newspapers in Italy and abroad for
libel over reports that, among other things, women were paid to
attend and in some cases have sex at his parties.
Berlusconi, who in Italy is normally only asked about his private
life in pre-prepared interviews with reporters from his own media
empire, said El Pais was losing credibility by attacking him and
seemed to suggest it might go bankrupt.
"Losing credibility leads to losing copies, losing readers, losing
advertising. In this way you head towards bankruptcy and I think El
Pais knows something about that," he said.
