Italy: Berlusconi, 7 months after resigning, says he's choice of moderates

Milan, 22 June (AKI) - Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi still claims a prominent role for himself in his country's politics seven months after a scandal and an escalating debt crisis prompted him to resign and hand over the reins of power to a government of technocrats led by Mario Monti.

"I'll continue to be the leader of moderates until Italians no longer want me to," Berlusconi, 76, said in an interview in a new book about Gabriele Albertini, former Milan mayor and a member of Berlusconi's conservative People of Freedom Party.

Berlusconi appears to be on the campaign trail, appearing in the press this week denouncing the euro and commenting on Italy's emergency government.

Despite a sex scandal and a spiralling debt crisis that derailed his rule and brought the European Union's fourth-biggest economy close to default on its debt, Berlusconi's party is still the most popular in Italy.

Prime minister Monti, a former EU commissioner, has raised taxes, made it more difficult to retire and cut spending. He has initial surge in popularity as Italians are made to pay more taxes and the unemployment rate continues to grow, raising the possibility of elections before Monti's mandate expires in the Spring of 2013.