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Berlusconi Makes One Last Push for Power

Posted Nov 20, 07 12:27 PM CST in World 

(Newser) – Silvio Berlusconi, the richest man in Italy and the longest-serving postwar PM, is pushing for one more shot at the top by founding a new political party, reports the Independent. In a surprise move, Berlusconi is dissolving Forza Italia, the party he built from scratch, and trying to unite the center-right to push Romano Prodi out of office.

Berlusconi seemed to be speaking off the cuff when he announced "The People's Party," and then, after a pause, "of Freedom," Time reports. Yet some political analysts discern savvy in Berlusconi's decision: With the left now unified under popular Rome mayor Walter Veltroni, the ex-PM seems to be severing ties with minuscule right-wing parties and preparing for the big battle.

Sources Independent (UK), Time

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Silvio Berlusconi is shown in this April 20, 2007 filer. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini/Files)   (Associated Press)
Italian former premier Silvio Berlusconi gestures at a press conference under a sign similiar to a political symbol saying "People of Freedom" in Rome, Monday Nov. 19, 2007. Berlusconi made a surprise...   (Associated Press)
Silvio Berlusconi, right, listens to Vice Premier Gianfranco Fini at the end of a press conference at Chigi palace, Premier's office, in Rome, in this file photo taken on April 11, 2006. (AP Photo/FILE/Plinio...   (Associated Press)
Silvio Berlusconi is ready for a fight with his new political party.   (Getty Images)
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