AUSSIE BY-ELECTION GOES DOWN WIRE AFTER PM CONCEDES DEFEAT
SYDNEY— As the count from a crucial Australian by-election spilled into Sunday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison faced the possibility that his Liberal party might have been too quick to concede defeat.
Messy Aussie politics
Morrison became Australia’s sixth prime minister in 10 years in August after his predecessor Malcolm Turnbull fell victim to infighting among the Liberals.
On Saturday, Morrison surrendered the seat, previously held by Turnbull, after the early count showed a swing of more than 20 percent away from the Liberals.
But with a quarter of the bal- lots still to be counted on Sunday, the Liberal candidate was just 900 votes behind.
Desperate attempt
The contest had gathered international attention after Morrison’s late attempt to garner support from Jewish voters, who account for 13 percent of Wentworth’s electorate, by suggesting Australia could recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and move its embassy there from Tel Aviv.
What impact that gambit had was unclear, but with his parliamentary majority hanging by, Morrison acknowledged that voters were clearly disillusioned with his party.
“The gap has closed by several hundred votes. There are still many postal votes to be counted,” Morrison said. “But, that said, yesterday Liberal voters expressed their anger.”
Automatic recount
Morrison said that if the count got as close as 100 votes, an automatic recount would be triggered, giving his conservative coalition a slender chance of retaining its one seat majority.