The “bunga bunga” guy is back.
Silvio Berlusconi — the billionaire former Italian prime minister who allegedly threw orgiastic parties where young women dressed as sexy nuns, nurses and even Barack Obama — is angling to be his country’s next president.
“A few months ago no one would have thought he could be president,” Stefano Vaccara, editor-in-chief of La Voce di New York, an Italian-language newspaper, told The Post. “Now something that was impossible seems to be a possibility. He could become a kind of king of Italy.”
A recent poll showed that 39 percent of Italians support Berlusconi for the top job despite a 2013 tax-fraud conviction and his current trial for alleged witness tampering in an underage prostitution case involving his bunga-bunga sex soirees.
According to the Telegraph, Berlusconi has actually been playing up his scandals as he campaigns.
Italian member of parliament Cristian Romaniello told the paper that Berlusconi called him and asked: “Ciao Cristian, are you interested in joining the bunga bunga party?”
“At first I thought it was someone imitating him but after a bit I understood that it was really him,” said Romaniello. “He spoke for a couple of minutes, about Europe, about the international situation. He made a couple of jokes.”
But no one is surprised that Berlusconi, 85, has been meeting with Rome’s power brokers accompanied by his latest leggy blond girlfriend — Marta Fascina, a 32-year-old parliamentarian from Reggio Calabria.
Fascina, who began dating the twice-divorced octogenarian in 2020, is part of Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party.
This week, Berlusconi threatened to withdraw his center right-wing party from the country’s governing majority if the current prime minister, Mario Draghi, is made president, according to Italian press reports. Members of parliament and regional representatives are scheduled to vote by secret ballot on Jan. 24 to choose a successor to Sergio Mattarella, the country’s current president, who is scheduled to step down next month.
To win, Berlusconi needs to withstand three rounds of ballots and 505 votes from the 1,009 members of parliament; the Telegraph reports that the former prime minister “can count on around 450 votes” from the right wing.
While the prime minister is the official head of the government, the president’s role is mostly ceremonial — although the president does appoint the PM and is also the head of the country’s armed forces.
Besides embracing his problematic past, Berlusconi is counting on Fascina as the secret weapon in his latest political aspirations. The curvy politician, who is fond of posing in sober business suits on her Instagram page, has been on her beau’s arm as he tries to sway legislators to back his presidential bid.
The Italian press has dubbed Berlusconi’s recent efforts “Operation Squirrel,” as he unleashes his national charm offensive to “squirrel away” votes for the presidency.
Fascina, who has the billionaire media mogul’s initials tattooed on her body, has known Berlusconi since her 20s when she worked as a press officer for the AC Milan soccer club, which he owned between 1986 and 2017. Media reports say Berlusconi was charmed by the adoring letters Fascina, who graduated from Rome’s Sapienza University with a degree in literature and philosophy, wrote him.
At first, he was mentoring her burgeoning political career — but then it turned romantic.
Berlusconi broke up with his previous girlfriend, Francesca Pascale, 34, his paramour of 12 years, who had reportedly asked him every day of their relationship to marry her.
Pascale — who met Berlusconi when she was the head of his fan club — told La Repubblica that she was “astonished” by the break-up during the height of the COVID epidemic in 2020.
“I will hold him dear forever,” Pascale said. “I wish him all the happiness in the world. I hope he finds someone who will take care of him as I have.”
She later tried to get even with her ex by posing topless on a yacht in the arms of another woman on the Amalfi coast.
Before the break-up, rumors swirled in the Italian media that Fascina was seen leaving the billionaire’s villa in Milan in the early mornings. Their relationship was finally confirmed when paparazzi photos emerged of Berlusconi and Fascina emerging from a Swiss hotel, walking Pascale’s beloved dog.
“It amuses me to see a member of parliament take my dog for a walk,” Pascale told Italian reporters two years ago.
In addition to his very public campaign with Fascina, which experts say is calculated to suggest that despite his age he is still vigorous, Berlusconi, who has been prime minister of Italy on four previous occasions, has also stressed his personal contacts with world leaders, including President Biden and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
“He is a great salesman,” said Vaccara. “It may not be crazy to consider that Berlusconi could return as a powerful kingmaker.”
