Berlusconi's Boundless Modesty: First It's Napoleon, Now He's Jesus

Silvio Berlusconi at the weekend provided his opponents with ammunition for Italy’s forthcoming election battle when the prime minister reportedly compared himself to a long-suffering Jesus Christ.

Leftist parliamentarians were quick to seize on Mr Berlusconi’s latest immodest aside ahead of the formal launch today of the campaign for the general election to be held on April 9 and 10.

Mr Berlusconi had already compared his achievements in office to those of Napoleon. He had said that only the French emperor had done more for his country, but joked that "I am definitely taller". But at the weekend, he changed tack, describing himself as the "Jesus Christ of politics" at a dinner with supporters, according to Italian newspapers. "I am a patient victim, I put up with everyone, I sacrifice myself for everyone."

One parliamentarian, the communist Marco Rizzo, called it a "grotesque comparison". Even allies were distancing themselves from the remark.

The start of the election campaign has brought into force rules on equal air time - rules which Mr Berlusconi had planned, but failed, to overturn. Over the past weeks, however, he has fully exploited both his power as owner of Italy’s three main commercial TV channels and his influence, as prime minister, over its state-owned radio and TV corporation, RAI.

A stream of interviews have helped to narrow the gap between him and the centre-left opposition, led by the former president of the European commission, Romano Prodi. A large part of the opposition’s manifesto, unveiled at the weekend, is devoted to measures aimed at undoing the media tycoon’s legacy. One of the most urgent would be a change to the constitution to ensure it could only be amended by a substantial, cross-party majority.

The opposition had also leapt on the comparison with Napoleon. "The election will be his Waterloo," said Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio, head of the Green party.