Australian opposition vows to form stable minority government

2010-08-24 07:26:22 GMT2010-08-24 15:26:22 (Beijing Time) Xinhua English

Australia's opposition leader Tony Abbott is interviewed at his electorate in Sydney on August 21, 2010. Polls opened Saturday morning for Australia's federal elections for the 43rd Parliament amidst a poll-suggestion that Prime Minister Julia Gillard led Labor Party is running neck-and-neck with Tony Abbott led Coalition. (Xinhua/Jiang Yaping)

CANBERRA, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) - Australian opposition leader Tony Abbott on Tuesday seized on a "civil war" within Labor Party to declare that only the Coalition can deliver a stable government.

Neither Labor nor Coalition Party gained an outright majority in the Aug. 21 election, meaning one side must win negotiations the three independents lawmakers, Rob Oakeshott, Tony Windsor and Bob Katter, as well as the elected Greens member of parliament to form a government.

Abbott insisted that the Coalition had earned the right to form government by winning more primary votes in Saturday's election, and warned that a Labor/Greens alliance would be bad for regional Australia, which also meant an increase in the mining tax, restrictions on marine areas, and the near-certainty of a carbon tax.

Abbott will enter talks with the three independents in coming days with an intention to deliver a government.

The latest counting of vote puts Labor on 72 seats and the Coalition on 70.

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