Silvio Berlusconi poised to announce political comeback "We hope and believe that he will say yes (to fighting the election)," said Angelino Alfano, who succeeded "Il Cavaliere" as the leader of his People of Freedom Party last year. "For the good of the country, he absolutely must offer himself as a candidate," Micaela Biancofiore, 41, an MP in his party, told La Repubblica newspaper on Friday. She claimed that business leaders were queuing up to implore Mr Berlusconi to contest the next election, expected in the Spring. Italians missed the "example" he had set, she said, although she dodged a question on whether that included his conduct at alleged "bunga bunga" sex parties in his Milan residence. Mr Berlusconi was not defeated democratically in an election and still enjoyed a majority in parliament, she claimed. But the latest polls show that his centre-Right party would receive less than 20 per cent of the votes, whereas the Democratic Party could expect 27 per cent. Analysts say his re-election hopes are driven by a desire to be able to use political office to protect his business interests and to seek immunity from his many legal entanglements, including an ongoing trial in which he is accused of paying for sex with an underage prostitute. Even his political opponents expect him to stand, although they say it would be a disaster for Italy just as it has recovered some of its credibility on the world stage under the technocrat government of Mario Monti. "I think he will offer himself as a candidate, at least from what I have seen," said Pierluigi Bersani, the head of the main opposition force, the centre-Left Democratic Party. Whenever he goes on holiday, it makes me worried. As Mr Berlusconi boards the cruise ship, his potential challenger at the next elections will be three days into a national campaign tour in a rather more modest means of transport - a camper van. Matteo Renzi, the smooth and photogenic 37-year-old mayor of Florence, is challenging the 60-year-old Mr Bersani for the leadership of the Democratic Party and hopes to contest the election, expected in April. He plans to visit all of Italy's 108 provinces over the next few weeks, sleeping in the campervan at night while his staff drive him from one town to the next.