Alfano: a loyal dauphin no more IT WAS meant to be a christening, but it turned into a funeral. On November 16th Silvio Berlusconi, a media tycoon, rebranded his party, the People of Freedom (PdL). Henceforth it will be Forza Italia (Come on Italy), the name of his political vehicle before 2007 when he merged it with the more right-wing National Alliance to form the PdL. But the much-vaunted rebirth provided the occasion for a split. A faction loyal to the interior minister, Angelino Alfano, stayed away from the relaunch congress. And on the same day Mr Alfano, once the billionaire businessman’s designated successor, announced a new group in parliament called the New Centre Right (NCD). This looks as if it will evolve into a separate party.The split offers Enrico Letta’s coalition a glittering opportunity to introduce the economic reforms that Italy urgently needs if its economy is to move ahead in the years to come at more than a snail’s pace. The OECD this week predicted that unemployment (12.5% in September), and debt as a proportion of GDP (133%) would both continue to rise, even as the economy creeps out of recession next year….
