On a last day of election campaigning again overshadowed by salacious reports on the private life of Silvio Berlusconi, senior ministers are lamenting that Italy has been more preoccupied with gossip over the tycoon prime minister's relationship with an 18-year-old would-be model than with serious issues.
"We are not talking enough about substance. We talk about gossip, personal problems of the prime minister, but not substance," said Franco Frattini, the foreign minister. He admitted that cabinet ministers shared the blame for being sucked into a maelstrom of unsubstantiated allegations about Mr Berlusconi's sex life.
"No one could affirm that the prime minister had sexual relations with Noemi Letizia," Mr Frattini told the Financial Times, referring to the teenager from Naples whose friendship with Mr Berlusconi led his wife, Veronica Lario, to ask for a divorce last month after accusing her husband of "frequenting minors".
Recalling that Ms Letizia and Mr Berlusconi had both denied having improper relations, he added: "His personal conscience is absolutely persuaded that he is in the right.
"When your conscience is clear you sleep well. My prime minister sleeps well."
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