As the court cleared away corrupt politicians, former Prime Minister Bettino Craxi (of the Italian Socialist Party) sought asylum in Tunisia, where he later died. The Christian Democratic Party, meanwhile, which had been in power continuously since the end of World War II, collapsed.

Against this backdrop, and armed with his success in business, Silvio Berlusconi appeared from nowhere to fill the power vacuum created by the judicial crackdown. It was like a TV chat show, and at the time I could not believe what was happening.

When I was staying in Italy from 2000 to 2001, Berlusconi became prime minister again. A friend of mine in Italy jokingly told me not to come back again, saying, "He'll be prime minister again if you do."

And when I came to Italy this year, there he was again in power. My friend was right!

But during my current stay, I have been struck by the opposite of what I had noticed before--this time, the political lineup was the same as in 1994. Gianfranco Fini, Umberto Bossi, Massimo D'Alema, Giuliano Amato and Emma Bonino--familiar faces all still there.

What is interesting is not just that Berlusconi manages to stay in power for so long, but also that he manages to stay in office despite being engulfed in scandals involving bribery, women, ties with the mafia, and taking control of the media and advantage of government.

Although recent scandals involving a young girl and prostitutes have hurt his popularity, he still has support from the majority of the people.

But why? For a start he is a salesman--he sells hope. The name of the party he created is Forza Italia (Forward, Italy). It makes people happier. Also, as someone who worked his way up to be one of the richest men in Italy, Berlusconi personified the Italian dream.

In addition, he seems to have limitless self-confidence. Indeed, he once said he knew how to make people love him, and he seems instinctively to understand what women, voters, or whoever, want--and how to give it to them.

He also once said he understood how people who evade taxes felt, and earned quiet public approval when he went easy on those who had evaded taxes in the past and only imposed small fines on them.

But if his basic strategy is influence peddling, he also is good at spin. For example, he made the popular decision to suddenly change the venue for the Group of Eight major nations' summit meeting to L'Aquila, which was hit by a strong earthquake in April.

However, it transpired that there had never been sufficient accommodation for world leaders' entourages and journalists on the remote island that had been initially selected as the summit venue.

Also, Berlusconi has successfully contained criticism by dismissing opponents as leftists, taking advantage of the turmoil of a leftist camp caught up in infighting. Even if opponents' charges have the ring of truth or are confirmed by court rulings, he treats them as personal attacks by the left.

Italian politics is like a specialized industry, far removed from people's lives. The other day, I saw the Palio di Siena, a traditional horse race, and saw adults whose favorite horses lost shedding tears. This is the kind of thing that is important to Italians. They do not seem to care much about national politics, as long as someone seems to be doing an average job.

There could be more acts to follow in the theater of surprises.

*Endo, an expert in international politics, is a professor at Hokkaido University and a fellow of the European University Institute.