Mission impossible? Berlusconi launches bid for Italian presidency

FILE PHOTO: Italy's former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi waves after he voted in Italian elections for mayors and councillors, in Milan, Italy, October 3, 2021. REUTERS/Flavio Lo Scalzo/File Photo

ROME (Reuters) - Undeterred by health woes, sex scandals and advanced age, former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi is doggedly pursuing a promise he once made to his mother: that one day he would become president.

Parliament will choose a new head of state early next year and the 85-year-old is the first to put himself forward for a race that could transform the Italian political landscape but has no official candidates.