I'll be premier if ECHR lifts ban - Berlusconi

(ANSA) - Rome, January 18 - Ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi said Thursday he would return to the premier's office if the centre right win the March 4 general election and the European Court of Human Rights lifts a ban on his holding public office. Berlusconi was ejected from the Senate in 2013 after the office ban, stemming from a tax-evasion conviction. "If a sentence that quashes the Senate's decision were to come from Strasbourg I wouldn't be able to draw back and I would go to (the premier's office in) Palazzo Chigi," said the three-time former premier and media magnate. But he acknowledged that it was "unlikely because I know how long things take in Strasbourg".
    The centre-right Forza Italia (FI) leader appealed to the ECHR last year to lift the ban, arguing that it was wrongly applied retroactively.
    The court is not expected to rule before the March vote.
    FI is in a coalition with the rightwing League and the nationalist Brothers of Italy (FdI) party, which is topping the polls among alliances.
    FI has yet to choose its premier candidate. League leader Matteo Salvini is running as premier and has said the party that comes out on top will get to name the premier candidate.
    Berlusconi said that if he became premier Salvini would be interior minister. He described the firebrand League leader as "an all-action centre forward", using a soccer analogy. Berlusconi was speaking on La7 TV.