noemi letizia pictures
May 29 (Bloomberg) -- Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s most explicit denial of month-old allegations he had an improper relationship with a teenager has failed to quell the controversy.
Raising the stakes yesterday, Berlusconi, 72, said he’d quit if he were caught lying.
“There is the smell of blood,” said James Walston professor of International Relations at the American University in Rome. “Will he survive? If you had asked me 10 days ago I would have said yes. Today I’m not so sure.”
The ruckus over Berlusconi’s relationship with now-18-year- old Noemi Letizia has dominated the political landscape and newspaper front-pages since his wife said she wanted a divorce and chastised him for cavorting with minors. It may cost his party votes in next week’s European parliamentary elections and even overshadow his hosting of Group of Eight leaders in July meant to focus attention on fixing the world economy.
“He hasn’t been able to shake off this Noemi thing,” said Antonio Noto, director of Rome-based polling company IPR Marketing. “We’ll have to see if he can turn it round.”
Berlusconi’s People of Liberty party led the opposition Democratic Party by 14 percentage points in a poll conducted May 15-17 on voting intention for the June 6-7 EU parliamentary elections. The poll was based on 4,000 telephone interviews. Italian law doesn’t allow polling in the 15 days before an election and many of the most salacious Noemi revelations have come since the last survey.
Campaign ‘Blocked’
“If people were voting today he would be losing a couple of percentage points for sure,” Noto said. “His campaign has been blocked.”
Letizia’s name and photos in lingerie and bikinis began dominating the news after Berlusconi’s wife, Veronica Lario, denounced Berlusconi in a letter to news agency Ansa on April 28, mentioning that he had recently attended the birthday party of an 18-year-old girl, when he had skipped the birthdays of his own children. Days later she was quoted saying that she wanted a divorce and wouldn’t stay with a man who cavorts with minors.
Berlusconi demanded an apology from his wife and said she had been duped by the “left-wing press.”
The premier said that he met Letizia through her parents, who have supported his version of events. The girl’s ex- boyfriend, Gino Flaminio, disputed the prime minister’s account in an interview with la Repubblica newspaper.
Party in Sardinia
He said Berlusconi didn’t know Letizia’s parents and that he first made contact by phone last year after seeing pictures she was using to try to break into show business. Berlusconi’s Mediaset SpA is Italy’s largest private TV broadcaster and producer.
Berlusconi then invited Letizia and a female friend to his villa in Sardinia for a week-long trip with dozens of other young women that concluded with a New Year’s party, Flaminio told the paper. Letizia has said publicly that the two spoke regularly and that she calls him Papi.
Berlusconi has so far avoided directly answering questions posed by newspapers, led by la Repubblica, such as how he met Noemi, how often and where he had seen her, and if he has spent time with her alone. Yesterday he again addressed the issue.
“Prime Minister, have you had spicy or more than spicy relations with a minor?” Berlusconi asked himself in Rome during a discussion about the reconstruction in Abruzzo province following an earthquake in April. “The response is: Absolutely not. I swear on the heads of my children.”
In Italy, adults are not punishable for sex with partners who are at least 16 years old. The age of consent can be as low as 13, if the partner is less than three years older. If not, it’s 14 unless the partner has “an influence” over the other, in which case the age of consent climbs up to 16, according to article 609 of Italy’s penal code.
Raising the stakes yesterday, Berlusconi, 72, said he’d quit if he were caught lying.
“There is the smell of blood,” said James Walston professor of International Relations at the American University in Rome. “Will he survive? If you had asked me 10 days ago I would have said yes. Today I’m not so sure.”
The ruckus over Berlusconi’s relationship with now-18-year- old Noemi Letizia has dominated the political landscape and newspaper front-pages since his wife said she wanted a divorce and chastised him for cavorting with minors. It may cost his party votes in next week’s European parliamentary elections and even overshadow his hosting of Group of Eight leaders in July meant to focus attention on fixing the world economy.
“He hasn’t been able to shake off this Noemi thing,” said Antonio Noto, director of Rome-based polling company IPR Marketing. “We’ll have to see if he can turn it round.”
Berlusconi’s People of Liberty party led the opposition Democratic Party by 14 percentage points in a poll conducted May 15-17 on voting intention for the June 6-7 EU parliamentary elections. The poll was based on 4,000 telephone interviews. Italian law doesn’t allow polling in the 15 days before an election and many of the most salacious Noemi revelations have come since the last survey.
Campaign ‘Blocked’
“If people were voting today he would be losing a couple of percentage points for sure,” Noto said. “His campaign has been blocked.”
Letizia’s name and photos in lingerie and bikinis began dominating the news after Berlusconi’s wife, Veronica Lario, denounced Berlusconi in a letter to news agency Ansa on April 28, mentioning that he had recently attended the birthday party of an 18-year-old girl, when he had skipped the birthdays of his own children. Days later she was quoted saying that she wanted a divorce and wouldn’t stay with a man who cavorts with minors.
Berlusconi demanded an apology from his wife and said she had been duped by the “left-wing press.”
The premier said that he met Letizia through her parents, who have supported his version of events. The girl’s ex- boyfriend, Gino Flaminio, disputed the prime minister’s account in an interview with la Repubblica newspaper.
Party in Sardinia
He said Berlusconi didn’t know Letizia’s parents and that he first made contact by phone last year after seeing pictures she was using to try to break into show business. Berlusconi’s Mediaset SpA is Italy’s largest private TV broadcaster and producer.
Berlusconi then invited Letizia and a female friend to his villa in Sardinia for a week-long trip with dozens of other young women that concluded with a New Year’s party, Flaminio told the paper. Letizia has said publicly that the two spoke regularly and that she calls him Papi.
Berlusconi has so far avoided directly answering questions posed by newspapers, led by la Repubblica, such as how he met Noemi, how often and where he had seen her, and if he has spent time with her alone. Yesterday he again addressed the issue.
“Prime Minister, have you had spicy or more than spicy relations with a minor?” Berlusconi asked himself in Rome during a discussion about the reconstruction in Abruzzo province following an earthquake in April. “The response is: Absolutely not. I swear on the heads of my children.”
In Italy, adults are not punishable for sex with partners who are at least 16 years old. The age of consent can be as low as 13, if the partner is less than three years older. If not, it’s 14 unless the partner has “an influence” over the other, in which case the age of consent climbs up to 16, according to article 609 of Italy’s penal code.
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