Italy's former prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, has cited his poor health as a reason for not taking on a senior post after the legal alliance's election victory.

"You have seen that I have not taken on an institutional role in this government, even if I deserved it," said the 86-year-old leader of the conservative ruling party at an event for his party Forza Italia in Milan. Berlusconi referred to a fall that happened to him. The doctors said it was a miracle that he was still alive, the northern Italian explained.

Berlusconi: election campaign in pain

According to Berlusconi, he continued the election campaign in pain after the fall. The doctors said they might eventually go away. "But when I'm sitting or standing, I'm still the one who thinks rationally," said Berlusconi to applause.

The four-time head of government and entrepreneur has been supported at public appearances for several months and usually holds on to his companions. Since a corona infection in September 2020, he has been to the hospital several times for checks.

With the election victory of the Alliance of the Right at the end of September, the scandalous politician returned to the Senate after nine years - the smaller of the two parliamentary chambers. He did not take over a ministry in the new government of Giorgia Meloni. During the formation of the government, his name was occasionally mentioned in media speculation about the office of Senate President - number two after the head of state. In the end, however, the task went to Ignazio La Russa of the far-right Meloni party, Fratelli d'Italia.