Pressure on Berlusconi children to enter politics after court ban

Fininvest President Marina Berlusconi smiles during the shareholders meeting at Mondadori headquarters in Segrate, outside Milan, April 21, 2011. REUTERS/Paolo Bona

ROME (Reuters) - Silvio Berlusconi's daughter Marina should lead his centre-right party in European parliamentary elections after he was banned from public office, the companion of the 77-year-old media billionaire said in an interview on Friday.

"It's obvious that without him the centre-right is stumbling. That's why I hope his daughter Marina takes up the challenge," Francesca Pascale told the daily La Repubblica.