Silvio Berlusconi has won a substantial majority, with his coalition partner, Gianfranco Fini, to return as president of the Council of Ministers, or prime minister, for the third time. The coalition looks set to beat the Democratic Party alliance led by Walter Veltroni by a majority of 20 seats in the Senate and 99 seats in the House.
Although turnout was high at 80 per cent, in the previous election of 2006 that brought Romano Prodi to power, it was even higher, by 3.5 per cent.
Under new legislation, only six parties will probably enter parliament, unlike the plethora of small parties elected under the previous system. For the first time, the communists will not be represented.
