And if a scientific opinion poll published yesterday by La Repubblica is correct, Mr Berlusconi could be in for a stinging defeat.The poll, of 1,002 adults across Italy with political views representing the population, found that more than two-thirds – 67.7 per cent – believe the Berlusconi government has failed to keep the promises it made prior to the election of 2001 that swept it into power. Silvio Berlusconi entered the history books yesterday when his government became, at 1,060 days, the longest surviving in the history of the Italian republic. Mr Berlusconi, in Paris yesterday for talks with Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin and President Jacques Chirac, offered no comment.One reason for the tycoon’s diffidence is that the road ahead looks steep and thorny. A poster stuck up around the country in recent days, showing an exhausted-looking prime minister smiling wanly and promising to “stick with the job”, was the only formal acknowledgement of the government’s achievement.

One month shy of three years in office, Italy’s richest man has broken with that record of weakness and impermanence.But any celebrations were behind closed doors. Do I have to come out here with a piece of paper saying I’ve been elected? I don’t do stupid things like that.”. In a region where political dissent was repressed, the protests in Batumi were an unusually large Throughout the day, support for Mr Abashidze ebbed away. First his police officers, then the soldiers in his private army and finally members of his administration abandoned him.But the Adjaran leader earlier appeared to be standing firm. He told viewers on Adjara TV: “Now 5,000 people are out on the streets demanding the resignation of a man who has been democratically elected by hundreds of thousands of people. If they wish to remain on the territory of Georgia, then they will have all guarantees for their safety.”He said he had spoken to the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, and the White House, asking them to grant the Adjaran leader asylum.

In scenes reminiscent of last year’s “Rose Revolution” which toppled President Shevardnadze, thousands of Georgians surged into the streets of Adjara, calling for the leader of the last stronghold of the former regime to step aside. He said: “I take full responsibility and give a guarantee of safety to Aslan Abashidze, but only in the event that he voluntarily leaves his post I am also giving guarantees to Abashidze’s family. Months of confrontation had threatened to spill over into violence with tensions mounting considerably over the past few days. Mr Abashidze ordered the destruction of bridges connecting the Black Sea province with the rest of Georgia, he said, to prevent its forces taking control.Mr Saakashvili in turn raised the pressure yesterday by ordering the military to take control of all internal border crossings and telling the Adjaran leader he must disarm his private militias and leave. There were scenes of jubilation in Adjara last night as the leader of Georgia’s rebellious region capitulated and slipped quietly away.
In contrast to his defiant stance when crowds took to the streets to demand his resignation, Aslan Abashidze’s departure was swift and silent.For some time now, Mr Abashidze, who was accused of running the province like a feudal lord, had been at odds with Mikhail Saakashvili, the charismatic Georgian President who led the successful, bloodless uprising against Eduard Shevardnadze last year.Last night a beaming Mr Saakashvili told a televised news briefing: “Aslan has fled.