CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA—Australians awoke Sunday to a government plagued in uncertainty after a stunningly close national election failed to deliver a clear victor, raising the prospect of a hung parliament. One day after the election, the race remained too close to call, with mail-in ballots and early votes yet to be counted. Parties need to hold at least 76 seats in the 150-seat House of Representatives to form a government. When the count was suspended early Sunday, the Australian Electoral Commission said the centre-left opposition Labor Party was leading in 72 seats, Turnbull’s coalition in 66 seats, and minor parties or independents in five seats. The gamble by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to call a rare early election may have failed, with his conservative Liberal Party-led coalition on track to lose a swath of seats in the House of Representatives — and potentially control of the country.

Source: thestar July 03, 2016 02:49 UTC