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Silvio Berlusconi has won a crushing victory in the Italian general election to become prime minister for the third time. The 71-year-old media magnate defeated Walter Veltroni, the 52-year-old leader of the Democratic Party, by a considerable margin and has a large enough majority to rule Italy for a full five-year term... Projections showed that Mr Berlusconi's coalition won 163 seats in the Senate, compared to 141 seats for Mr Veltroni. In Italy's lower house, the Chamber of Deputies, the count was 332 seats to 215... Mr Veltroni warned that Mr Berlusconi's government could be held to ransom by the Northern League, the secessionist party headed by Umberto Bossi, his coalition partner. "The League is strong. We are a great force!" said Mr Bossi after winning between seven and eight per cent of the vote. Mr Bossi, who is one of Italy's most controversial and unpredictable politicians, called on Mr Berlusconi to give him a large share of cabinet posts and to carry out the devolution of Italy "immediately". His party is bent on splitting the industrial north of the country away from the poor regions of the south. Mr Bossi has wrecked Mr Berlusconi's government before, when he broke off their alliance in 1994.