Silvio Berlusconi allowed to run again for election as Italy's prime minister, court rules

Tribunal decision paves way for 81-year-old to make a political comeback

Silvio Berlusconi, pictured last month after talks with Italy's president, could stand for office again if talks fail (Reuters)

An Italian court has ruled that three-time prime minister Silvio Berlusconi may run for office again, more than five years after he was banned for tax fraud.

However, three days ago the 81-year-old gave his blessing to the anti-migrant League party to form a government without him in the wake of an indecisive election result in Italy in March.

The League is in talks with the populist 5-Star Movement over forming a government, and is reportedly close to a deal – so the tribunal ruling could have come too late for him.

The Italian president, Sergio Mattarella, gave the two parties until tomorrow to reach a coalition deal and end the political impasse.

But Mr Mattarella has said that if political leaders cannot form a government soon, he will appoint a non-political premier to govern until the end of the year at the latest. That would then mean a fresh election and a chance for Mr Berlusconi to run again.

Milan daily newspaper Corriere della Sera reported that the tribunal overturned the ban on Mr Berlusconi’s running after reviewing a request from his lawyers.

In October 2012, the media mogul was found guilty of committing tax fraud as part of his vast business dealings. Italy's highest criminal court upheld his conviction the next year.

The conviction forced him to surrender his Senate seat and prevented him from being a candidate in national elections. He was allowed to do community service to replace most of his jail term, and he spent it helping Alzheimer's patients at a care home.

Chief prosecutor Roberto Alfonso said yesterday that prosecutors would decide within two weeks whether to appeal against yesterday’s tribunal decision.

The ban on the former prime minister seeking or holding public office was due to expire next year but the tribunal ruled that he already had been "rehabilitated", Corriere della Sera said.

"Silvio Berlusconi can finally return to the playing field," said Mara Carfagna, a leader of the Forza Italia party, which Berlusconi founded. "The 'rehabilitation' by the Milan surveillance court puts an end to a judicial persecution and a cavalry that didn't chip away at the strength of great leadership, that, in a profoundly changed political scenario, is today still fundamental and central."

The election on 4 March resulted in a legislature sharply divided into three factions, one of them the centre-right alliance of Forza Italia and the League party.

During the campaign, Mr Berlusconi disparaged the eurosceptic 5-Stars as ''more dangerous than communists" and he has refused to back a government coalition with them.