Denis Verdini said he was "pained"
on Wednesday as he presented a new parliamentary group in the
Senate after splitting from Silvio Berlusconi's opposition
centre-right Forza Italia (FI) party.
Verdini was previously one of three-time premier
Berlusconi's closest and most loyal aides.
But he and a group of followers have left FI amid
differences over, among other things, Berlusconi dropping his
support for Premier Matteo Renzi's bill to overhaul Italy's
slow, costly political machinery.
Verdini helped Berlusconi negotiate the reform package,
featuring a transformation of the Senate into a leaner assembly
of local-government representatives with limited powers.
Berlusconi dropped his support for the so-called Boschi
bill, named after Reform Minister Maria Elena Boschi, and for a
separate overhaul of the election system after Renzi's
centre-left Democratic Party (PD) had President Sergio
Mattarella elected head of State against his will early this
year.
"We were at ease within the group but we do not renege on
anything," Verdini said.
"The split, like any split, was painful and hurt. When you
don't see eye-to-eye, no one dies.
"I have great loyalty for Berlusconi, but we see things
differently.
"The Boschi bill should be approved as it is".
The possibility that Verdini's group could help the
government pass some measures has caused unease within the PD,
with former PD Lower House whip Roberto Speranza saying it was
the stuff of a "horror film".
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