Rome:
The party of power less than a year ago, Italy's People of Freedom founded by Silvio Berlusconi is being convulsed by a series of scandals including the latest over lavish spending by its elected officials.
Prosecutors have launched an investigation into the expenses of party officials in the Lazio region around Rome, with much of the media attention focussed on a 20,000-euro ($26,000) toga party organised by one member.
The leader of party deputies in Lazio's regional assembly, Francesco Battistoni, resigned on Thursday and a dozen officials are under investigation.
His predecessor, Franco Fiorito, is suspected of defrauding the state of around 800,000 euros and is himself accusing eight other people of fraud.
Italian press reports said Mr Fiorito owns five homes and had holidays in Sardinia paid by the party, which also rewarded him with a 90,000-euro BMW.
The People of Freedom (PDL) party has been effectively rudderless since Mr Berlusconi stepped down in November 2011 and retreated from frontline politics.
The most recent opinion polls show it lagging behind the main centre-left Democratic Party and some of its local election showings have been disastrous.
Renata Polverini, the regional governor of Lazio and a member of the party, reportedly spoke to Mr Berlusconi who advised her not to step down to avoid triggering early elections before the general election scheduled for 2013.
The prosecutor's office in Lazio was quoted by Italian media as saying there had been "chaotic management" of the party's regional finances.
"There was a system without any serious control," it said.