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Australia hung parliament 'likely' |
The prospect of a hung parliament in
Australia's elections looks increasingly possible as initial
results were "too close to call".
Julia Gillard, the incumbent prime minister, said on Saturday
that she would continue to lead the government in a caretaker
position until final results were known.
"Obviously this is too close to call. There are many seats
where the result is undecided and where it will take a number
of days of counting to determine the result," Gillard told
supporters in Melbourne.
Tony Abbot, the leader of the opposition coalition, hailed the
result as "good". |
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"This is a night for pride in our achievements, for
satisfaction at the good result that has been achieved,
but above all else measured reflection of the magnitude
of the task ahead," he told his own throng of supporters
in Sydney.
With around 75 per cent of the vote tallied by the
Australian electoral commissionbefore midnight on
Saturday, neither side looked likely to win an election
majority.
The ruling Labor party is predicted to win 70 seats in
the 150-seat parliament, while the opposition coalition
is predicted to win 72, according to ABC,the Australian
public broadcaster.
At least 76 seats are required to win a majority.
"I think a hung parliament is looking more and more
likely," said Nick Minchin, a senator and one of the
opposition Liberal-National coalition's top strategists.
Stephen Smith, the foreign minister, appeared to agree a
hung parliament was likely, telling ABC that his ruling
Labor party was unlikely to get the necessary 76 seats.
Australia has not elected a hung parliament since 1940.
Close race
Two separate television exit polls conducted before
polling closed predicted Gillard's party would win by 51
or 52 per cent of the vote to the coalition's 48 or 49,
but indicated dangerous swings against Labor in key
marginal seats.
Early results indeed showed swings against Labor in the
battleground states of Queensland and New South Wales,
but stronger support for the Greens, which favours the
ruling party under Australia's complex preferences
system.
Veronica Pedrosa, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Sydney,
said it looks like Gillard will have to look to smaller
parties to form a government.
"We are hearing that Labor lost 18 seats, 13 definitely,
five still in doubt. It looks like voters are punishing
Gillard for ousting Kevin Rudd," Pedrosa said.
"The most important one of these [parties to form a
government with] is going to be the Green party and they
[the two parties] disagree on green issues.
"It depends how the numbers come in tonight or tomorrow
morning but it looks like that is the deal that she is
going to have to make."
Anger over party coup
About 14 million people were eligible to cast their
ballots across Australia, where voting is mandatory.
The election decides the make-up of the 150-seat lower
house and half the 76-seat senate.
Tony Abbott, left, has attacked Labor over immigration
and a alleged carbon tax [AFP]
Gillard ran a campaign overshadowed by anger over her
ousting of elected leader, Kevin Rudd, in June, with the
backing of factional chiefs.
"This is a tough, tight, close contest, but I'm
exercising my own vote," Gillard said earlier as she
cast her ballot in the Australian city of Melbourne.
"This is a big day for our country," Abbott said as he
cast his vote in Sydney.
"It's a day when we can vote out a bad government."
Both sides targeted a swathe of marginal seats in
resource-rich Queensland, the home state of Rudd, and
western Sydney, where rapid population growth has put
pressure on services and raised concerns about
immigration.
Abbott, who doubts the science behind climate change,
attacked Labor over immigration and told voters that the
ruling party was planning a carbon tax that would lead
to higher power bills for everyone.
He is the Liberal party's third leader since it lost
power, but the first to threaten the government in
opinion polls.
Labor gained power in 2007 with 83 seats after 11 years
in opposition.
english.aljazeera.net
Saturday, August 21, 2010
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