Australian PM claims election win, but uncertainties continue

SYDNEY: Eight days after Australia’s general election ended in uncertainty, the prime minister finally claimed victory Sunday for his conservative coalition, bringing an end to the country’s political paralysis — at least for the moment.

Though the question of who won the July 2 election was answered, the question of exactly how the conservatives will rule the fractured Parliament was not. With official results still days or even weeks away, it was unclear whether Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s Liberal Party-led coalition had won enough votes to govern in its own right, or whether it would need the support of independent and minor party lawmakers to form a minority government.

Either way, Turnbull faces a rough road ahead with a divided party, a splintered Senate and a politically weary public that has endured five changes of prime minister in as many years. Though millions of votes still need to be counted, there was no way for the opposition center-left Labor Party to win a majority of seats in the House of Representatives, where parties form governments. That prompted opposition leader Bill Shorten to formally concede the race on Sunday, which in turn triggered Turnbull to announce that the coalition had won a second three-year term. “We have resolved this election and done so peacefully,” Turnbull said.

Yet the poll was not entirely resolved. Parties are required to hold at least 76 seats in the 150seat House of Representatives to form a majority government, and the coalition has not reached that number.