Berlusconi’s ratings drop

A VERY public divorce and allegations of being an aspiring teenage model’s “Papi” have put a dent in Silvio Berlusconi’s popularity ratings, says a new poll.

The Italian prime minister’s ratings have slipped by three points to 53% nearly two weeks after his second wife, Veronica Lario, demanded a divorce over his relationships with starlets and with Noemi Letizia, to whom he gave a pendant for her 18th birthday.

The poll, by IPR and carried on La Repubblica’s website, also showed that the proportion of people expressing “little or no” confidence in Berlusconi had risen by four points to 46%.