Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was expelled from the senate of his country last Wednesday, after four months of debate on the subject. He was voted out by 194 votes to 112.

His expulsion was ultimately due to his conviction in August for tax fraud by his Mediaset TV Company, however Berlusconi has also been slammed for carousing with young girls- allegedly prostitutes, and political corruption.

This decision comes just under 2 months after he was forced, due to a lack of support from his own party, to opt for an official vote of confidence in his arch political rival, Enrico Letta, whom he had originally been vociferously against.

Though it has been an undeniably unfortunate couple of months for the politician, most political pundits believe that we have not seen the last of the tenacious Italian, with many news headlines unironically referring to the “long road” ahead of him or the fact that he is “down but not out”.

While Irish politicians are used to being shamed, it seems that once they have been taken down a peg or two, they remain there. Unlike their international counterparts, such as Toronto mayor Rob Ford, who, despite admitting to using crack and being videotaped threatening to kill somebody refuses to give up his post.

Brian Cowen stuck it out for as long as he could back in the day; however he was ultimately forced to resign after multiple no confidence votes and public shamings.

However the vast majority of commentators seem absolutely certain that Berlusconi will not merely fade into obscurity. In October after Berlusconi’s shock vote of confidence, TheCity compared the corruption of Italian and Irish politicians, with inconclusive results. However it’s safe to say we have a clear winner in the “Who’s more persistent” category.

Featured Image photo credit: Simone Ramella