On his first day back at work almost a month after he was attacked, Italy's prime minister Silvio Berlusconi was busy today working out a three-pronged strategy to regain his immunity from prosecution.
At lunch with the justice minister, his most faithful party allies and his own lawyer, Mr Berlusconi discussed three draft bills - two of which could be approved by March - designed to rid him of his legal headaches.
Two trials for corruption and tax fraud against Berlusconi were allowed to resume last October when Italy's top court ruled that a law passed by his government and shielding him from prosecution while in office was unconstitutional.
Since then, the 73-year old media tycoon, who says he has been hounded by "communist" magistrates since he entered politics in 1994 and denies charges against him, has sought to restore his immunity and have pending trials stopped.
Riding on a wave of sympathy after a mentally unstable man broke his nose and teeth on December 13th, Mr Berlusconi has denounced a climate of hate and split the opposition with a call for dialogue on political reforms - starting with the judiciary.
"Let's carry on now," a smiling Mr Berlusconi told supporters waiving a "Welcome Back" banner outside his Rome residence.
"I have a little scar here," he said, pointing to his injured cheek. "But my muscles are very strong, you'll see."
Tomorrow, the government is due to submit to parliament - where Mr Berlusconi has an ample majority - a bill that would drastically cut the duration of Italy's slow trials.
The bill sets a total six-year limit on the three stages of court cases - initial trial, first appeal and final appeal - in a country where trials can last more than a decade.
But the opposition and magistrates say it is yet another "ad personam" law - using the Latin term meaning "for a person" - meant to stop in their tracks the trials against the premier.
A second bill expected to land in parliament this week gives Mr Berlusconi a "legitimate impediment" to attending court cases against him because of his official commitments, meaning hearings will have to be rescheduled against him.
The third measure being prepared by Mr Berlusconi's allies is a new immunity law that could be extended to all members of parliament - something Italy abolished in the mid-1990s in the wake of the Tangentopoli bribery scandals.
This would have to be a constitutional law, which has a longer path through parliament and can be shelved by referendum.
Reuters