Australia's election was on a knife-edge Saturday with the ruling conservatives struggling to win enough seats to form majority government, raising the prospect of a hung parliament. Seventy-six seats are needed to rule outright in the 150-seat House of Representatives, but there was a swing against Malcolm Turnbull's Liberal/National coalition results showed as vote counting went deep into the night.
National broadcaster ABC, which is known for calling elections results, said an outcome was unlikely Saturday. "I'm prepared to make a prediction. We won't know who has won tonight," the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's respected election analyst Antony Green said, with some four million postal votes still being sifted through.
He forecast Bill Shorten's Labour opposition would not hold more than 70 seats and the coalition could fall short of a majority by one seat, with 75, despite being backed by the nation's media. More than four hours after most polling booths closed, the Australian Electoral Commission had Turnbull's party on 71 seats to 68 for Labour with crossbenchers - politicians who are independent or from minor parties - winning five. It could mean a parliament where no side commands a lower house majority, as voters fed up with traditional politicians look for alternatives, meaning crossbenchers will play an important role in forming government.
Comments
Comments are closed.