23/08/2010 11:03
No one wins parliamentary elections in Australia
Parliamentary elections in Australia ended inconclusively on Saturday, with no party securing a parliamentary majority.
With 78% of votes counted, Labour is set for 72 seats, and opposition leader Tony Abbot's coalition 70.
"It is clear that neither party has earned the right to government in its own right,” said Prime Minister Julia Gillard. She also added that she had held talks with independent lawnakers in order to form the government.
Tony Abbott in his part said that the Labor Party had lost its legitimacy. "I say that a government that found it very hard to govern legitimately with 17 seats will never be able to govern in a minority," he is quoted as saying, referring to Labor's leadership problems despite its overwhelming majority in the former government.