The first item on the agenda of Silvio Berlusconi's new party was "the split". No sooner had Mr Berlusconi "refounded" Forza Italia on Saturday morning than his long-time "dauphin", Angelino Alfano, officially presented the breakaway New Centre Right party on Saturday afternoon.
In opting to rename his People of Freedom (PDL) party Forza Italia, Mr Berlusconi had hoped to arrest his apparent political decline and get back to the halcyon days of 1994 when Forza Italia proved an overnight sensation, coming from party foundation to general election victory in just two months.
On Saturday, however, the move failed to help him regain control over his usually servile but now rebellious party.
In parliament last month, senior party figures, including Mr Alfano, had made it clear that they would not vote with Mr Berlusconi to bring down the Enrico Letta coalition government in which the PDL is one of two major partners with the centre-left PD.
Dissidents
Even before Saturday's Forza Italia "relaunch", Mr Berlusconi knew that those same "dissidents" had finally jumped ship, taking with them 30 senators and 27 deputies. The empire had begun to crumble.
The most telling image from Saturday’s relaunch was the sight of an exhausted, 78-year-old Mr Berlusconi needing medical attention as he almost collapsed in the aftermath of his 1½-hour “Lider Maximo”-style harangue. This, too, was a party “meeting” at which Mr Berlusconi was the one and only speaker.
The breaking point with Mr Alfano (43) was once again Mr Berlusconi’s desire to bring down the Letta government.
Much of Mr Berlusconi’s attention is focused on his impending expulsion from the senate, in the wake of his June conviction for tax fraud by his Mediaset TV company.
With the expulsion vote due on November 27th, the ageing party leader had wanted to impose a party line whereby if the expulsion vote went against him, then the PDL component in the Letta coalition would withdraw, bringing down the government.
Irresponsible
Mr Alfano, who is both deputy prime minister and interior minister in the Letta cabinet, along with the four other PDL ministers, disagreed, arguing that it would be irresponsible to bring down the government in the difficult austerity climate.
Mr Alfano has in vain tried to persuade Mr Berlusconi to separate his own judicial fate from the political fate of the seven-month-old Letta government.
In the end, while Mr Alfano celebrated the birth of his new party at a chaotic press conference, Mr Berlusconi had to tell his supporters that there was no way now that he could bring down the Letta government.
With both Mr Letta and Mr Alfano looking stronger, the crack in the Berlusconi foundations is getting larger by the day.