Premier Silvio Berlusconi denied on Thursday that the head of state had him in mind when he called for a "balanced" presence of politicians on television in the run-up to elections.
"I really don't think so," Berlusconi said when asked by journalists if Wednesday's plea by President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi was
meant for him. "I don't see how he can be talking about me. I've been on fewer TV programmes than the leaders of the Left," he
continued.
The premier has appeared on six different television shows in the last ten days and was scheduled to appear on three more by the end of the week. This media offensive has been noted by the centre-left opposition, which applauded loudly on Wednesday when Ciampi made his call in an address to parliament's public TV watchdog committee.
The president asked the committee to ensure there was "real equality" in the access that political parties had to public television during the election campaign. Elections are scheduled for April 9.
The premier has long railed against Italy's equal time political coverage law - known by its Latin tag, par condicio - which was introduced in February 2000. He had plans to change it but admitted this week that it was now too late to do this.
The head of state broadcaster RAI on Wednesday released a report on the presence of political leaders on news programmes over the last four months, concluding that "parity" had been assured.
