..... and he keeps getting re-elected?

Noemi Letizia, is at the centre of a nasty divorce between Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and his wife. (AFP, Getty Images)

Berlusconi pressed to explain relationship
18-year-old woman
Philip Pullella, Reuters, with files from news services

Published: Wednesday, May 27, 2009

The story of Silvio Berlusconi's friendship with an 18-year-old woman has transfixed Italy and forced the Prime Minister onto the defensive as he leads his party into European elections and prepares to host a Group of Eight summit.

Italy's opposition, media and even the Roman Catholic Church have been pressing him to clear up the nature of his relationship with Noemi Letizia, an aspiring model who wants to break into show business.

"A politician has a duty to respond and a duty to tell the truth," Dario Franceschini, head of the opposition Democratic party, told a rally at the weekend.

Ms. Letizia, whose 18th birthday party Mr. Berlusconi attended in Naples last month, is at the centre of a messy divorce suit by his wife, Veronica Lario.

Mr. Berlusconi, accused by Ms. Lario of "frequenting minors," insists nothing improper happened between him and the teenager who refers to him as "Papi" (Daddy).

But the saga has become so politically explosive the Italian leader has vowed to clear his name with a formal address to parliament, something he rarely does.

And he told CNN International it was "shameful" the private matter of his divorce was being used for political attack. "There is nothing, nothing of nothing, that is even remotely negative" about the relationship with Ms. Letizia, he added. "Now they accuse me of lying ... and I will respond."

La Repubblica, Italy's second largest mainstream daily, has been leading the charge against Mr. Berlusconi and breaking most of the stories.

Yesterday, the left-leaning paper ran an investigative story whose headline accused him of offering the country "a rosary of lies." Every day since May 14 it has published 10 questions it says he should answer to clear up the controversy.

The furore began last month when Ms. Lario expressed her anger after he attended Ms. Letizia's 18th birthday party and gave her a $9,370 gold necklace.

Ms. Lario, who has also criticized what she says is a bevy of attractive women chosen to run for office in her husband's party, said he had never attended their children's 18th birthday parties.

Since then, newspapers have wanted to know, among other things, if Mr. Berlusconi ever was with Ms. Letizia when she was not accompanied by her parents and was still a minor.

The Prime Minister has said he has known the family for years.

Ms. Letizia's former boyfriend, Gino Flaminio, 22, told The Daily Mail she was among overnight guests at a New Year's party at one of Mr. Berlusconi's villas on Sardinia. "She said Berlusconi treated them well and laughed and joked with them. ...They flew back on the Prime Minister's personal plane. When she got back, she wasn't my Noemi, she wasn't the Noemi or little anchovy, as I called her, that I knew."
_________________________
GRILLING SILVIO:

The newspaper La Repubblica has drawn up a list of 10 questions for Silvio Berlusconi, 72, the Italian Prime Minister, to answer about his relationship with Noemi Letizia, 18. They include:

- How did you get to know Noemi Letizia?

- How many times have you met Noemi Letizia and where?

- Do you take an interest in Noemi Letizia and her future, or support her family economically in any way?

- Is it true you promised Noemi you would help her career in show business or politics?

- Veronica Lario has said that you "frequent underage girls." Do you meet any others or "bring them up"?

- Your wife says that you are not well and you need help. What is the state of your health?

Source: National Post