Berlusconi says will stay in politics

Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi says he will remain in politics, following a setback in his battle to keep his seat in the parliament.

“I will always be with you, at your side, expelled from parliament or not,” he said in a TV address before a preliminary vote by a Senate panel on Wednesday.

An Italian Senate committee later on the same day dismissed a recommendation by a senator from Berlusconi’s party that he keep his seat in the assembly.

The decision was the first step in a process that might last for months before any final action is taken by the upper house.

“I didn’t commit any crime. I am not guilty of anything. I am innocent. I am absolutely innocent,” the 76-year-old billionaire added in the address as he accused what he described as leftist judges of plotting against him to pervert democracy.

The ex-premier further urged centre-right voters to rally behind his re-launched Forza Italia party, with which he first entered politics in 1990s.

In August, Italy’s Supreme Court confirmed Berlusconi’s four-year prison term, commuted to one year, for a massive fraud at his Mediaset television empire.

However, due to his age Berlusconi is expected to go into house arrest or do community service.

The committee vote comes after in 2012 Italy’s parliament passed a law that bans anyone who is sentenced to over two years in jail from holding or serving in office for six years.

Berlusconi’s defense team says Italy’s Constitutional Court should evaluate the law, arguing that a six-year ban violates citizens’ rights.

Berlusconi, who served as Italy’s prime minister from 1994 to 2011, resigned after coming under immense pressure to step down for mishandling the Italian economy.