Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was apparently the object of quite a bit of affection over recent years, as young women allegedly visited his home for wild parties in exchange for cash and other gifts.

The twice-divorced 74-year-old may be in the midst of a battle, but still has the support of many Italians, including some of the women paid to entertain him. At the center of it all is an 18-year-old Moroccan dancer known as Ruby the Heartstealer.

Ruby attended parties at Berlusconi’s home outside of Milan – parties that prosecutors have described as wild sexfests – before she turned 18, and that’s what might have the Prime Minister in trouble.

Berlusconi denies that he has ever paid for sex, and Ruby says that although the Prime Minister helped her out financially, he never laid a finger on her.
The left-wing newspaper L’Unita has launched an on-line petition with which it hopes to gather 10 million signatures saying “Basta” – enough – to Berlusconi.

And despite a fair amount of outrage over Berlusconi’s so-called  “Bunga-Bunga” sex parties, he won’t go down easily.

Those who sign L’Unita’s peitition need to put together a lot more than 10 million signatures.  They need to find 20 million voters in the next elections, and it’s not likely they can do that.

Pictured above are Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and “Ruby the Heartstealer.”