Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has angrily denied rumours that he went into Parliament last month and introduced a proposal which attracted sufficient support from his fellow politicians to enable it to become law.
The sordid claims were made by a member of the Italian Parliament, who claims he has video footage of the Premier speaking in the Senate shortly before his proposal - to introduce greater regulation to the construction sector - became law. The video, which has become an overnight You-tube sensation, appears to him standing fully clothed complete with shirt and tie, making a concise and factual pitch which emphasised the need for greater accountability among a profession which, Mr Berlusconi said "has in the past occasionally bordered on the corrupt".
The video has shocked many Italians and has the leader of the opposition has led calls for the leader's resignation: “When people vote for a Prime Minister, they want to see him working hard to de-flower virgins, take control of all media-outlets, and amass a huge personal fortune from a corrupt business empire. This so called “law-making” will not be tolerated by the Italian people nor by us as politicians” he said.
In a measure designed to restore trust in the Prime Minister, Mr Berlusconi today appeared at a rally in the centre of Rome at which he made a number of graphically illustrated threats against his political opponents, after which his limousine passed through the cheering crowds while the Premier stripped naked and began to snort cocaine off the back of one of three Brazilian hookers he had hired for the occasion. Mr Berlusconi is 74.