Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia
(FI) party on Wednesday issued a statement denying media reports
that the ex-premier was considering scrapping the opposition,
centre-right group in order to set up a new party.
"President Berlusconi has never thought of scrapping
Forza Italia, never mind working to do so," the statement said,
describing the reports about the creation of a new party, Forza
Silvio, as "fanciful conjectures".
Forza Italia has been hit by severe internal rifts in
recent months and has dropped to fourth place in many opinion
polls.
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