Puglia Forza Italia chiefs quit in revolt against Berlusconi

(ANSA) Bari, February 19 - The Forza Italia provincial coordinators and regional deputy coordinators in Puglia resigned Thursday in an apparent 'revolt' against former premier Silvio Berlusconi's party leadership.
    The resignations followed the decision by Berlusconi to appoint Luigi Vitali as a special commissar to run the regional branch of the conservative party that has been in disarray since his conviction for tax fraud.
    "In this way we spare the commissar the job of evaluating our level of fitness, freeing the field by the side of Raffaele Fitto for a real reconstruction of the party and the country," the senior party officials who quit said in a joint statement.
    The officials who resigned included Antonio Distaso, Roberto Marti, Riccardo Memeo, Luigi D'Ambrosio Lettieri and Luigi Perrone.