The People of Freedom - North League coalition obtained a comfortable majority after the early election in Italy - some 47.31% of the votes for Senate and 46.79% for the House of Deputies, Corriere della Sera informs in its online edition. Silvio Berlusconi thus becomes Prime Minister for the third time, already announcing that he has the structure of the future cabinet set.

The new Government will have 12 ministers, including 4 women. The leader of the Democrat Party, former Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni, admitted his defeat soon after the exit polls were published.

The new Berlusconi government is the 62nd cabinet after the second world war. The 71-year old prime minister declared that difficult months are about to come and that he is ready to collaborate with the Opposition, in order to conduct the economic reforms Italy needs.