The Italian former premier originally said he was done with politics after resigning. (Creative Commons/Wikipedia)

Berlusconi, who was formerly the premier, stepped down in the midst of the European debt crisis after heated pressure from the international community, Bloomberg reported.

Referred to by CNN as the nation’s most “flamboyant politician” after leaving office Berlusconi has been convicted of embezzlement, fraud and bribery.

In a message posted on his website and Facebook page, Berlusconi said: "I'm besieged by my people that are requesting that I get back in the battlefield leading the People of Freedom, PDL party."

He said that because he could not find a leader in the center right coalition that could replace him, he decided to step back into the political fray.

"I return to politics with despair and out of a sense of responsibility," he said. But, he added, "I enter the race to win," CNN reported.

Berlusconi's center-right PDL lags the left center Democratic Party by at least 16 percentage points in opinion polls, and also trails the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement, which has surged to prominence on a “tide of public anger against the mainstream political class,” Reuters reported.

Read more of Neon Tommy's coverage of Italy here.

Reach executive producer Jackie Mansky here.