ITALY:When the bell for the next round sounds, former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi is always one to come out fighting.
Thus it was that last weekend he stunned allies and opponents alike with the announcement that he would shortly be dissolving his own party, Forza Italia, founded in 1993, and replacing it with a more inclusive centre-right entity to be called the People's Party, the Freedom Party or the People's Freedom Party.
Mr Berlusconi's announcement comes at what, for any other political leader, could only be termed a difficult moment. For months now, he has been predicting the imminent collapse of the current centre-left government led by Romano Prodi.
Yet despite internal divisions Mr Prodi's coalition continues to hold together, having just steered the budget Bill through the Italian senate. Even though Mr Prodi theoretically has a senate majority of only one vote, last Thursday he won the key, final budget vote by a margin of four.
In the immediate aftermath of that vote, Mr Prodi criticised Mr Berlusconi, saying that rather than contribute constructively to the budget debate, he had concentrated exclusively on negative electioneering.
Mr Berlusconi's centre-right allies, in particular Alleanza Nazionale (AN) leader Gianfranco Fini and Christian Democrat (UDC) leader Pier Ferdinando Casini, were even more critical, arguing that he had offered the electorate propaganda rather than policies.
Not daunted by the criticism, Mr Berlusconi sprang back with a marketing-style initiative over the weekend which saw him set up Forza Italia stands throughout Italy, collecting signatures for a petition demanding the resignation of the Prodi government.
Announcing the formation of the new party, Mr Berlusconi claimed that, by Sunday evening, more than seven million people had signed his petition.
He added: "More than seven million people have stopped at our stands to elect a government that is in harmony with the citizens and against the fossils of old-style politics."
Yesterday, Mr Berlusconi further stunned his allies by suggesting that he was willing, after all, to enter into dialogue with the centre left on electoral and institutional reform in an attempt to finally eliminate the instability that has complicated life for both the centre-right and centre-left governments of the past decade.
While welcoming that move, his ally Mr Fini appeared to further distance himself from Mr Berlusconi when confirming that his party would not be merging with the new party.
Cynics are entitled to wonder just how much Mr Berlusconi's new party has to do with policies and how much with marketing considerations - the need to offer a new, better and brighter product. The fact that the centre-left last month held primary elections for the formation of a new force, the Democratic Party (PD), may not be coincidental.