Election stalemate:

Australian PM seeks deal

AUSTRALIA: Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has vowed to keep the country stable while she tries to form a government following an inconclusive general election. Gillard, whose Labour Party slumped at the ballot box just two months after she deposed the former leader Kevin Rudd, said she planned to form a minority government to resolve the stalemate.

Labour and the opposition Liberal/National alliance, led by Tony Abbott, were set for a dead heat of 73 seats each, missing the 76 needed for a majority, according to public broadcaster ABC.

Neither side conceded defeat, with Gillard announcing her intention to try to form a government as she began talks with the handful of independent lawmakers — and one from the Greens — who now hold the balance of power.

“We have robust democratic institutions and processes, and as prime minister I will continue to provide stable and effective government... while the final votes are counted in this election,” Gillard said Sunday.

The Welsh-born Labor leader, Australia’s first woman prime minister, suffered badly in Saturday’s polls, which looked certain to bring the first hung parliament in 70 years as vote-counting went down to the wire in some marginal seats.

Her campaign was overshadowed by voter anger over Labor’s June mutiny against Rudd, who won 2007 elections by a landslide and enjoyed enduring support until his approval ratings finally dropped this year.

Melbourne, Monday, AFP