Berlusconi urges for ‘Shocking’ changes within own party

Italy’s Ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi who is currently the leader of center-right People of Freedom (PdL) party on Friday called for drastic changes within his party in an effort to gain back the Pdl’s popularity. “We need a grand revolution from within the party, changing everything and not just the name of the party to win back voters. We need a big shock,” local media reported Berlusconi as saying during a party meeting. The party faced political scandals over the past several months, culminating in the October arrest of PdL caucus leader, Franco Fiorito, for allegedly squandering millions of euros of public money for personal use. Berlusconi was also convicted of tax fraud at his Mediaset media empire two weeks ago. These subsequent events led to the plummeting of the popularity of the party that polls in Sicily elections showed. The PdL came in third place after the centre- left Democratic Party (PD) and the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S) party. Amid his party’s scandals, the media tycoon decided he will not seek a fourth term in April, when Premier Mario Monti – the technocrat who replaced him amid a peak in the euro crisis a year ago – is scheduled to step down, according to Mediterranean news agency (ANSAmed). Berlusconi said he chose to take a back-seat role instead and will be forming alliances in the center of Italy’s political spectrum while backing PdL Secretary Angelino Alfano, who is set to run in the primaries next month to select the party’s premier candidate. The Pdl party was formed in 2007 when Berlusconi merged his Forza Italia (FI) party with the conservative National Alliance (NA).