Centre-right faction of Silvio Berlusconi’s party splits

The centre-right faction of Belusconi's party Peopleof Freedom Party (PDL) has split amidst high political unrest.

Tensions in Berlusconi's party have been high as he faces expulsion from parliament over a court conviction.

The separation comes as Berlusconi prepares to relaunch Forza Italia, the party that brought him to power two decades ago.

Angelino Alfano, the deputy prime minister, said he and colleagues were forming a new centre-right party.

Berlusconi has argued that if he is expelled from parliament, his party should quit the coalition and that its cabinet ministers - like Alfano - should resign and bring the administration down.

Alfano and others in the party, however, have disagreed with that approach and the tensions surrounding the issue have now seemingly torn the faction apart.

One of the breakaway senators, Roberto Formigoni, told the LA7 TV network that Alfano could count on 37 senators and 23 MPs for his new party.

Transport Minister Maurizio Lupi told reporters that the decision to split was taken with "great suffering" but that MPs could not join a Forza Italia of "extremists".

Last month, a leaders' meeting voted to suspend Berlusconi's People of Freedom Party (PDL) and restore the name - Forza Italia - used until 2007.

However,  Alfano and other PDL figures were absent from the vote, hinting at party divisions.

Earlier this month Berlusconi promised to topple the government by withawing the PDL's support - a move that prompted a confidence vote in the Senate.

But he was forced into an embarrassing climbdown when it became clear that several of his senators would back the government.

The media tycoon was convicted of tax fraud in October 2012 over deals his firm Mediaset made to purchase TV rights to US fil. The sentence was upheld in August.

The Italian Senate will soon vote on whether to expel him, a move which would open up the risk of arrest over other criminal cases.