Berlusconi to ‘hang in there’

ITALIAN Premier Silvio Berlusconi vowed not to quit, promising to hang in there as long as he’s needed.

And that could be a long time.

He boasted playfully he’ll live to 120.

Only a few days earlier, at a dinner for foreign correspondents, Berlusconi seemed to be pre-announcing his eventual exit from power, saying he has designated his justice minister as political heir, although he held out a role for himself as a kind of father-figure for his conservative Freedom People party.

The minister, Angelino Alfano, has designed an overhaul of Italy’s justice system that the 74-year-old Berlusconi’s critics contend is custom-made to rescue the premier from his legal woes.

Among the trials Berlusconi is involved is one in Milan in which he is charged with paying for sex with an underage prostitute.

Berlusconi said: “I’m not giving up. I’ll be around as long as necessary.”

“I’ll make it to 120 years, even though I’m still a mortal,” he joked.