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ROME (AFP) – Italian women have hailed the wife of ex-prime minister Silvio Berlusconi for forcing a public apology from him for flirting with a young woman lawmaker.
Berlusconi, head of the country’s largest political party Forza Italia, was caught cooing to member of parliament Mara Carfagna, 31, at a recent gala dinner. He was quoted as saying:
- “I’d go anywhere with you, even to a desert island. If I weren’t already married, I would marry you straight away.”
Veronica e Silvio Berlusconi
A letter by his wife was printed on the front page of centre-left newspaper La Repubblica on Wednesday demanding a public apology. Berlusconi replied with a letter which asked for her pardon.
“Please forgive me, and take this public testimony… as an act of love, one among many,” he wrote in a letter carried by the ANSA news agency. “My days are crazy, as you know. Work, politics, problems, trips… a life under constant pressure.”
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."
