Remember when Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi was smacked in the face with a miniature statue at a political rally last month? He’s back to work this week for the first time since the incident, and his face isn’t the only thing that’s looking better.

When he entered the hospital with a broken nose and a mangled mouth, I wrote on Big Think that Berlusconi was entangled in too much controversy for the bizarre attack to escape the aim of conspiracy theorists. About a week later, a YouTube video of the attack went viral alongside the accusation that it was faked.

Was the attack planned by the Berlusconi camp as part of some phenomenally backwards attempt at bolstering his reputation? Who knows. But it’s been good for his political standing nonetheless: After dropping more than four points in November, the PM’s approval rating has climbed to 55.9 percent in what’s been dubbed an “outpouring of sympathy” by the Italians.

Basking in the newfound good graces of his country, the now-cheerful Berlusconi is again pushing for judicial reform that would make him immune from long-standing charges of corruption and tax fraud. The reforms, if passed, will limit the length that a trial is allowed to carry on to six years, bringing his own to a halt.

If his heightened approval is any indicator, Berlusconi should have a relatively easy time of pushing his reforms forward and freeing himself from the charges that have haunted him for years. Which would make that little souvenir statue the best thing that’s ever happened to his political career.