Following a non-stop series of increasingly more embarrassing revelations regarding the Prime Minister's affairs with paid escorts Berlusconi replied in his typical fashion with a joke.
The occasion was the inauguration of works for a new highway connecting Brescia, Bergamo and Milano. He said "I am no saint, you've figured that out - let us hope that the ones of Repubblica understand it as well". Repubblica, and the Espresso group, has been the news group most adamant that Berlusconi explains his behaviour to the Italian people and in parliament.
Berlusconi went on to say "On the 31st of December 2012, date by which this road will be finished, we will all be here because how can Italians go ahead without us?".
The international press is taking turns to condemn and congratulate him. The English press has been particularly critical of Berlusconi with an article in the Times today comparing him to Mao while the Russian paper "Komsomolskaia Pravda" says that Italians should be proud of such as virile 72 year-old prime minister who takes prostitutes in a bed gifted by Putin.
