Italy's resounding right-wing coalition victory in the general election marks the return to parliament of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, nine years after he was ousted over tax fraud charges, the AP reports.

Berlusconi, who turns 86 on Thursday, won more than 50 percent of the vote in the Senate race in the northern Monza district, where the billionaire owns a villa and a local soccer club.

"I will try to act as a playmaker in the (next) government," Berlusconi told supporters after the vote, demonstrating his desire to remain at the forefront of politics despite his age and poor health.

Berlusconi underwent serious heart surgery in 2016, became seriously ill with COVID in 2020 and has been hospitalized time and again over the past year with various illnesses.

He will be joined in parliament by his girlfriend, Marta Fascina, 32, who won the seat in Sicily. Fascina will take a seat in the lower house of deputies, while Berlusconi was elected to the upper house, the Senate.