As Italy searches for a way out of the political crisis triggered by the fall of Romano Prodi, one former leader is waiting impatiently in the wings for his chance to make a dramatic return to power.

Silvio Berlusconi, still considered the nation's dapper and irrepressible “Great Seducer” at 71, is clearly relishing the prospect of another comeback by gaining a third term in office. The latest opinion polls give his centre-right Opposition an 11 to 16-point lead over the centre-left coalition that collapsed last week, making the flamboyant media tycoon's return inevitable if — or when — elections are held.

To the bafflement of many outside the country, Italians are ready to go to the polls to entrust their future to a septuagenarian known more for his cosmetic surgery and hair implants than his gravitas as a statesman. But now, as President Napolitano leads efforts to find a new government, Mr Berlusconi is very much in the political hot seat.

Yesterday he made clear that he would block all attempts by Franco Marini, the respected Speaker of the Senate, to form a caretaker government, whose task would be to overhaul Italy's much maligned electoral system. The proposal, which is favoured by President Napolitano, is backed by Confindustria, the employers' federation, several trade unions and the Catholic Bishops Conference.

As Mr Marini, 74, began talks, Mr Berlusconi declared that the idea was doomed from the outset. “We are wasting time,” he said, adding that millions of Italians would protest on the streets if President Napolitano did not dissolve parliament and call elections. Furthermore, Mr Berlusconi's right-wing allies have all buried their squabbles to swing behind him.

For many Italians Mr Berlusconi's worst sin is that after his remarkable comeback in 2001 — when he won elections after seven years in the political wilderness — he failed to deliver on his promise to make Italians rich through privatisation and deregulation. Instead the self-made billionaire left Italy with a ballooning public deficit and near-zero growth.

When Mr Berlusconi narrowly lost to Mr Prodi in 2006 he even refused to leave office, claiming that the vote had been rigged. He eventually disappeared to his luxury seaside villa in Sardinia, cheering himself up with parties, performances of his own songs — he is a former cruise-ship crooner — fireworks and a fake volcano. He then reappeared, his hair blacker and his smile broader than ever, to wait for the inevitable collapse of the fractured and quarrelsome Prodi coalition.

The key question is not why the pendulum has swung back to the Centre Right but why Mr Berlusconi still leads it. One answer is that he has never been seriously challenged, partly because Italy is still dominated — to the frustration of ambitious younger politicians and business leaders — by a gerontocracy.

Whereas Mr Prodi has a successor as leader of the Centre Left in Walter Veltroni, the 53-year-old Mayor of Rome, Mr Berlusconi has no dauphin. His attempts last year to anoint Michela Vittoria Brambilla, 41, an enthusiastic supporter and former beauty queen with little political experience, as his heir were dismissed even by others on the Right as typical Berlusconi showmanship. However, his reputation as an entertainer who uses his media power politically is regarded by many Italians as a strength. He also has formidable personal charm and powers of persuasion.

For all his power in politics and business and his string of villas and yachts, he presents himself as an outsider in tune with the common man. If he cracks sexist jokes about women secretaries, it does him little harm. When he was forced to apologise publicly to Veronica Lario, his long-suffering wife and a former actress, for his excessive attentions to other attractive women he probably gained votes rather than lost them.

There is a similar sneaking admiration for his defiance in the face of corruption charges, and many right-wing voters agree with him that he is persecuted by left-wing magistrates. Attempts to prove that he had Mafia ties or to investigate the origins of the money with which he made his initial fortune as a Milan property developer have all run into the sand.

Last weekend, comparing himself to Tony Blair, Mr Berlusconi said that he would serve for only three years of his next five-year term, and would then hand over to “an Italian Gordon Brown”. Then he added: “The only problem is, I haven't yet found him”.

Hair today — and probably hair tomorrow

— Born in Milan in 1936, the young Silvio sold vacuum cleaners, university essays and his own charm as a nightclub and cruise-ship crooner

— After graduating in law in 1961 he founded the construction company Edilnord, then bought a shopping channel, Telemilano as he steadily built an empire spanning media, food and the football club AC Milan

— In 1993 he founded the political party Forza Italia, named after a football chant. It formed a coalition with the right-wing National Alliance and Northern League, which brought him to power as Prime Minister in 1994

— His Government collapsed after seven months when he was charged with tax fraud. He lost the 1996 election but returned in 2001 despite accusations of fraud

— He had a facelift in 2003 to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Forza Italia. The year after, he greeted the Blairs wearing a pirate-style bandana, prompting huge media speculation on hair implants

— When he resigned as Prime Minister in 2006 he had an estimated fortune of £7 billion, making him Italy's richest man

Source: Times archives

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