Italian ex-prime minister Berlusconi calls for a new party

November 29, 2007 Italian opposition leader and ex-prime minister Silvio Berlusconi declared the former alliance known as Casa Delle Libertà (CDL), or House of Freedoms an "ectoplasm", and called for the creation of a new party, the Partito del popolo della Libertà or Italian People's Party for Freedom.

He stated last Sunday (25 November), after suddenly disbanding the Forza Italia party a week previously, that this new party will be composed mainly of ex-Forza Italia voters and will take up to 37% of votes. Berlusconi tried to defeat Prime Minister Romano Prodi in the parliament recently, on the Finanziaria, or budget bill, but failed.