He has emerged from the fringes of a neo-Fascist party to position himself as the heir apparent to Premier Silvio Berlusconi.

Gianfranco Fini, a chain-smoking politician who once called Benito Mussolini the 20th century's greatest statesman, has undergone a remarkable transformation to the center of Italian politics, adopting liberal positions that have prompted jokes that he's the best leader the leftist opposition never had.

Recently, Fini has championed a series of causes that are traditionally associated with the Left: He's in favor of citizenship rights for immigrants, opposes the church on issues such as assisted fertility and the right-to-die, and recently used an obscenity for racists that made front-page news.

One right-wing paper summed it all up with an ironic epithet: Comrade Fini.

There's another reason why political commentators are comparing Fini to an opposition leader: While his political skills and popularity make him a crucial ally for Berlusconi, Fini's independent streak has also turned him arguably into the scandal-tainted leader's worst enemy.

Fini has clashed with Berlusconi on issues ranging from the judiciary to institutional reforms, and briefly withheld his support for a bill shielding the premier from two ongoing corruption trials.

He has lent Berlusconi only lukewarm support in the wake of a sex scandal in which _ among other peccadilloes _ the leader was allegedly caught on tape cavorting with a high-class prostitute.

It has all raised speculation about the stability of the 18-month-old government and a possible succession battle. Fini, 57, himself has claimed the right to dissent from Berlusconi saying that "otherwise you are not loyal, you are submissive."

"Berlusconi is certainly the leader, and we in the center-right recognize this leadership," Fini said in a recent interview on state TV. "But it is not an absolute monarchy."

Fini has been making the rounds to promote his new book, called "The Future of Freedom" and aimed at those who were born after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. It is the manifesto of a politician who has been working hard to establish himself as an independent-minded, post-ideological leader committed to democracy and free markets.

The shift from neo-Fascism to mainstream conservatism has been extraordinary even for a country where politicians are almost as quick to change sides as they are to gulp down their morning espressos. Fini has long retracted his statement on Mussolini, and initial doubts that his transformation was a mere act of political opportunism have now largely faded.

Perhaps nothing exemplifies Fini's political journey as the profoundly different receptions he got during two landmarks trips.