FOR weeks Silvio Berlusconi has hogged the airwaves, appearing on chat shows, football discussions and even traffic programmes.

That ends today when Parliament is dissolved and Italy’s election campaign — with its strict “equal time” provisions — officially begins.

Fortunately for the Italian Prime Minister, tonight is also the opening of the Winter Olympics in Turin. That should divert the electorate’s attention from his dismal record for another 16 days and, if the Games go well, make his depressed country feel a little better about itself. Equally, if the Games are disrupted by anti-globalisation demonstrations, he will not hesitate to blame the Left.

On paper, Signor Berlusconi should have little chance of defeating Romani Prodi, the former European Commission President to whom he lost an election in 1996. The economy is in the doldrums. His facelift, hair transplant and repeated gaffes have made him a figure of fun abroad. He has used his parliamentary majority to push through legislation to protect him from corruption charges, and to amend electoral law to favour his creaking centre-right coalition, which trails Signor Prodi’s centre-left alliance in every poll.

But Signor Berlusconi has become, against all odds, the first Italian prime minister since the Second World War to survive a full term, and nobody is writing off this irrepressible, perma-tanned media tycoon and former cruise ship entertainer.He has already written to the 600,000 babies born in Italy last year, reminding them that they received a €1,000 bonus, and signing off with “a big kiss from Silvio”.

He will repeat his 2001 election ploy by sending every household a second volume of his illustrated autobiography, and has promised — or threatened — to post a CD of his latest love songs as well.

Signor Berlusconi, 69, will spend the next two months criss-crossing the country in a private jet. His hope is that Italy will fall once again for his exuberance, a trait that Signor Prodi, his understated and professorial foe, singularly lacks.

Signor Berlusconi has good reason to divert attention from his record. In 2001, with typical flamboyance, he promised to use his entrepreneurial skills to revive the economy, and promised to quit politics if he reneged on five pledges. He vowed to lower taxes, cut crime, raise the basic pension, create jobs and fund 40 per cent of infrastructure projects listed in a ten-year plan.

But five years on, most Italians feel worse off. The economy has twice slipped into recession. The deficit is nearly 5 per cent of GDP, far above the eurozone limit. Growth has been close to zero. Italy ranks as the least competitive eurozone nation, with critics calling it “the sick man of Europe”.

Signor Prodi claims that his rival has honoured none of his five promises. Unabashed, Signor Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party has started Operation Truth, a campaign noting that some pensions have been raised, unemployment is down, and infrastructure projects such as the Venice flood barrier and the bridge linking Sicily to the mainland have begun.

Signor Berlusconi seeks to blame Italy’s economic woes on Signor Prodi, who as Prime Minister took Italy into the euro and, as European Commission President, opened up Europe to cheap foreign imports that have devastated some Italian industries, such as textiles.

Il Messaggero, the Rome daily, said this week that Signor Berlusconi had disappointed the country. “The liberalising revolution he promised — competition, deregulation, freedom of choice — is just an empty slogan,” it said. “Italy remains riddled with favouritism, cronyism and immobility.” The vote on April 9 will show how many Italians agree.

CHARM OR OFFENSIVE

Sept 2001 Said that Western civilisation was superior to Islam “because it has at its core freedom”. Islam was “stuck where it was 1,400 years ago”

Dec 2001 Told EU summit that Parma, not Helsinki, should host a new EU food safety agency because “Parma is synonymous with good cuisine. The Finns don’t even know what prosciutto is”

Feb 2002 At another EU summit made an Italian hand signal meaning “cuckold” behind the head of the Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Pique July 2003 Compared Martin Schultz, a left-wing German MEP, to a Nazi concentration camp guard as Italy took over the EU presidency

Aug 2003 Said Mussolini had been a benevolent leader. “Mussolini never killed anyone. Mussolini used to send people on vacation in internal exile”

Sept 2003 Told US businessmen they should invest in Italy because it has “beautiful secretaries — superb girls”

Jan 2004 Admitted to a facelift: “I only had my eyelids retouched slightly”

Aug 2004 Appeared with Tony Blair at his villa wearing a bandana to disguise a hair transplant

June 2005 Boasted he had used his “playboy” charms on Taria Halonen, the Finnish President, to ensure the food safety agency went to Parma

Dec 2005 Said Paolo Di Canio, the Lazio player, was a “good lad” whose repeated Fascist salutes to fans had “no political meaning”

Jan 2006 Pledged sexual abstinence until the election. Later claimed he was only joking

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