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Former Italian Prime Minister and media tycoon Silvio Berlusconi has emerged as an unlikely kingmaker in Italy's general elections in March 2018. Affectionately known as "Il Cavaliere" (The Knight), Berlusconi was expelled from the Italian Parliament in 2013 and is currently barred from public office after convictions for bribery and tax fraud. He's pictured here in 2009. ANDREAS SOLARO/AFP/Getty Images
Berlusconi shares a moment with President George W. Bush during an arrival ceremony on the White House South Lawn in October 2008. Alex Wong/Getty Images
Libya's Moammar Gadhafi attends a meeting with Berlusconi in Rome in June 2009. The Libyan leader was killed in 2011 after being captured by rebel forces in his hometown. Franco Origlia/Getty Images
President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama welcome Berlusconi to a G20 dinner in Pittsburgh in September 2009. JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images
Berlusconi waves to journalists as he leaves a Milan hospital in December 2009 after suffering severe facial wounds in an attack at a rally. GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP/Getty Images
Russia's Vladimir Putin joins Berlusconi for a press conference in Lesmo, Italy, in April 2010. Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images
Berlusconi listens during a debate in the Italian Senate in December 2010. Franco Origlia/Getty Images
Berlusconi reacts during the presentation of Antonio Razzi's book "My Clean Hands" at the Italian Parliament in February 2012. ANDREAS SOLARO/AFP/Getty Images
Berlusconi visits Villa Madama in Rome in January 2011. FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP/Getty Images
Berlusconi arrives at the German Chancellery in Berlin to meet with Chancellor Angela Merkel in January 2011. Sean Gallup/Getty Images
Berlusconi passes by Carabinieri guards before a meeting with Russia's President at Villa Madama in February 2011. VINCENZO PINTO/AFP/Getty Images
Berlusconi, then owner of the Italian soccer club AC Milan, celebrates with the players after the team won the Luigi Berlusconi Trophy in August 2011. The trophy is in honor of Berlusconi's father. Claudio Villa/Getty Images
Berlusconi, right, at the dedication ceremony at the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum in Dallas in April 2013. Charles Dharapak/AP
Berlusconi in the Italian Senate in October 2013, a month before he was expelled from Parliament after his conviction for tax fraud. Gregorio Borgia/AP
The political deal-maker, now 81, attends a La7 TV program in Rome in February 2018. Italy will hold general elections on March 4, and Berlusconi, as leader of the Forza Italia party, has brokered a right-wing alliance with the neo-fascist Brothers of Italy party and the anti-immigrant Northern League. Angelo Carconi/ANSA/EPA
