6 Comments
Silvio Berlusconi. The name alone strikes fear into the hearts of political leaders and young ladies the world over. The Prime Minister who has spent more time in court, than in the UN has been accused of direct links with the Mafia after convicted hitman Gaspare Spatuzza said Mr Berlusconi had been the political protector of Cosa Nostra godfather Giuseppe Graviano in the Nineties.

Not only that, but the memoirs of ex-call girl, Patrizia D'Addario, claimed that, after a night with the aging Lothario she received threatening phone-calls.

Some would say, you shouldn't feel sorry for the embattled Berlusconi, but we do. We love his mantastic ways. His stubborn denial. His unflinching political incorrectness. The unending stream of skeletons cascading out of his closet.

He makes politics interesting and hilarious, which is more than you can say for Alistair Darling.

So in honour of the perma-tanned Italian President, his incredible personal-life and equally turbulent hairline, we present the five most mantastic world leaders.

Saparmurat Niyazov

Qualifies on grounds of: The quote: "I'm personally against seeing statues of myself everywhere, but it's what the people want."

Saparmurat changed the name of every month of the year to either, a derivative of his name or his mother's. He had an ice palace built in the desert and a re-creation of the hanging gardens of Babylon made 10 miles from his house, but never went to see it.

To combat congestion in the capital of Turkmenistan he banned drivers from going less than 30 miles-per-hour unless stationary. It's that kind of stringent lateral thinking that makes a man truly mantastic. Though he did go a bit bonkers towards the end of his political tenure - banning beards and lip-syncing. Cheryl Cole would be in trouble! Am I right!? Take that Cheryl.

Barack Obama

Qualifies on the grounds of: Hope

Obama-rama has died down now, and the incumbent American President is being watched on all-sides, his every move scrutinised and picked apart by the ranks of Fox News pundits.

And in all fairness - he's been weighing things up - taking his time - getting all the facts. Despite his varying degrees of inaction, Obama has nevertheless managed to win a Nobel Peace Prize.

Despite it being a slow year for peace this was nevertheless a pretty amazing achievement and shows just what Barack means to the world.

Plus he seems like a genuinely mantastic guy: basketball nights, a family man, cogent fiscal legislation and tolerant foreign policy - pretty mantastic we say.

Lula Da Silva

Qualifies on grounds of: Fairytale story

The Brazilian President's story is an amazing one, from street-side shoe shiner to President of the fifth most populous country in the world.

Lula has turned Brazil into one of the real up-and-coming world economies. Lula, whose unkempt appearance has won him both favour and criticism, also has a penchant for "politically problematic" outbursts.

He blamed the global financial crisis on "blond-haired blue-eyed bankers", and "the rich countries of the West".

Yeah take that the West. Oh right we're part of the West, but, surely Brazil is more West than we are, I mean technically, they are further across.

Nicolas Sarkozy

Qualifies on grounds of: Supermodel, folk-singer wife

His stacked heels certainly aren't mantastic, but his marriage to supermodel-turned-surprisingly-good-folk-singer, Carla Bruni, overwhelmingly is.

Only four months after divorcing his wife, former fashion model, Cécilia Ciganer-Albéniz, Sarkozy married Bruni in Paris.

"Sarko" to both his friends and enemies refuses to learn English despite it being the diplomatic world's language of choice. He's got some gall too, (pun intended) - when his 23-year-old son Jean ran for a top position at La Defense, Europe's largest business district, it drew cries of nepotism. Though old Sarko simply told baying journos that "he's the man for the job", despite having next to no experience.

Silvio Berlusconi

Qualifies on ground of: Mantastic larks

Let us make it plain - we're not down with a lot of stuff old Silvio does. But he keeps things interesting doesn't he?

During the 2006 election which saw him lose to Roman Prodi, concerns were raised about Prodi's party being unable to screen election ads on TV, because the state-ran news channels don't run political ads all, and all the other terrestrial channels were owned by Berlusconi, who refused to run Prodi's ads. "I see no problem," said Berlusconi.

Although it's not his questionable politics for which he has gleaned such startling world notoriety, rather his saucy private life. The Italian President has been allegedly romping his way round Italy for years - after a string of call-girls, former escourts and girlfriends have come out in the Italian press to attest.

But most mantastic of all, is legislation his own party passed to create Presidential immunity. On 19 May, an Italian court ruled that Berlusconi had bribed his English lawyer, David Mills, paying him $600,000 to give false testimony on his behalf. Mills was convicted though Berlusconi was protected by parliamentary-immunity legislation passed by his government. We like to call that - serious forward thinking, and it is mantastic.



Enjoyed this? Keep up to date with the goings on at Asylum UK by following us on Twitter and Facebook