ROME, April 3 (Reuters) - The Economist magazine, which condemned Italian conservative leader Silvio Berlusconi's 2006 reelection bid with a cover story declaring him "unfit to lead Italy", has advised Italians again to vote for his opponent.
"Italians should vote for Walter Veltroni, his opponent from the centre left, instead," reads an editorial in the latest edition of the British weekly, seen by Reuters on Thursday ahead of publication.
Berlusconi lost the 2006 election narrowly to centre-left candidate Romano Prodi, though he first managed to introduce electoral reforms bequeathing Prodi a tiny Senate majority that eventually brought down his government in January this year.
Ahead of the upcoming election on April 13-14 Berlusconi has maintained a constant lead in opinion polls over Veltroni, the former mayor of Rome, of between 5-9 percentage points.
The magazine said Berlusconi was not interested in carrying out the reforms Italy needs, has conflict of interests arising from his Mediaset business empire and has influenced the courts to evade conviction on the many court cases he has faced.
"He is still Italy's richest man, still beset by conflicts of interest, still unfit, even if he were a great reformer, to rule Italy," said The Economist.
Berlusconi is the third richest Italian, according to Forbes' latest ranking.
Berlusconi accused the Economist of bias in 2006, having sued them for libel already in 1994 after it urged him to resign as prime minister.
The magazine said that in his last spell in office from 2001 to 2006, Berlusconi managed "modest improvements" in pension and labour legislation but devoted more energy "to furthering his own, or his friends', interests".
Now 71, Berlusconi is "likely to have his eyes on a populist route to the presidency", the Economist said.
bdnews24.com/fhb/2042 hrs.
