The billionaire resigned as prime minister just over a year ago at the height of his country's debt crisis, bringing to an end an 18-year era in which he dominated Italian politics.

 

Since then, Italy has been run by an unelected, technocratic² government headed by economist³ Mario Monti.

 

Monti plans to step down after passage of a national budget and stability measures, Italian President Giorgio Napolitano said in a statement Saturday after meeting with Monti.

 

"The prime minister doesn't consider it possible to further carry out its mandate⁴ and thus he expressed his intention to resign," it read.

 

If Monti resigns before the new year, elections could be held as early as next February, a few months earlier than the natural end of the legislature.

 

In a message posted on his website and Facebook page, Berlusconi said: "I'm besieged⁵（被包围） by my people that are requesting that I get back in the battlefield leading the People of Freedom, PDL party."

 

He said the center-right coalition⁶ had searched for a new leader, but there was no one to replace him.

 

"I return to politics with despair and out of a sense of responsibility," he said.

 

But, he added, "I enter the race to win."

 

When he resigned in November 2011, Berlusconi said he did not intend to run for office when elections were held again.

 

But the 76-year-old's intention to return to frontline politics has been rumored⁷ in the months since.

 

In October, a Milan court sentenced Berlusconi to four years in prison for tax evasion⁸.

 

Through the years, Berlusconi has been accused of embezzlement⁹, fraud and bribery¹⁰, but the tax evasion case marked the first time he had been convicted of an offense¹¹.

 

Berlusconi also faces trial on charges that he hired an underage prostitute and later tried to pull strings¹² to get her out of jail when she was accused of theft.

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