IF SILVIO Berlusconi is worried, he is not showing it. All summer he has sung, danced and thrown extravagant parties for his friends, at one point whisking off his wife for a surprise birthday celebration in Morocco.
But this week, when the orange-tanned former Italian prime minister returns to work in parliament, he faces the most difficult decision of his career.
To continue as leader of the opposition, Mr Berlusconi, who will turn 70 this month, may have to renounce his multibillion-dollar media empire.
The new Italian Government will put forward legislation this week that aims to ensure that so much power is never again concentrated in one man's hands.
In a move that will bring to a climax the decade-long, seesaw struggle between Romano Prodi and the man he defeated, for a second time, earlier this year, the "conflict of interests" law is expected to say that a politician cannot control a large share of the media. It will require that politicians renounce any media interests six months before taking office.
Even now that he is no longer prime minister, Mr Berlusconi's grasp over everyday life in Italy is unique in the Western world.
A typical Italian might spend his Sunday reading the papers and perhaps a book, then watching the afternoon football match.
All come courtesy of the man widely known as Il Cavaliere ("The knight"), right down to the advertisements shown at half-time. The flamboyant billionaire owns three of Italy's seven national television channels, two newspapers, the largest publisher, the largest advertising agency and numerous internet ventures.
Mr Prodi's Government says it is time for such "undemocratic" influence to cease and for Mr Berlusconi to choose between political and media power.
His supporters, however, accuse the Government of waging a "communist" vendetta and point out that Mr Berlusconi's own political party, Forza Italia, would be markedly weakened without the funding, air-time and assistance that his Mediaset empire donates.
Mr Berlusconi's personal spokesman, Paolo Bonaiuti, said: "They can talk about his parties and his singing, they can say he is never around and he is always dancing, but the careful observer does not miss the fact that Silvio Berlusconi is still the only real great opposition to the left — and that they are thinking about the best way to shut him down."
Mr Berlusconi insists he no longer controls his media empire directly and is preparing to pass the reins to his children.
Mr Prodi said the law was not aimed personally at Mr Berlusconi or at his assets. Parliament would debate the proposals, then pass reforms agreed by both sides of Italian politics.
