After days of limbo, Australian premier claims election win

SYDNEY (AP) — Australia's prime minister said on Sunday that his conservative coalition government was re-elected for a second three-year term, after a chaotic national election that left the country in a state of political paralysis for more than a week while officials scrambled to sort out who had won the tight race.

Vote counting was still underway from the July 2 ballot, but Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said his conservative Liberal Party-led coalition had secured a victory, and that opposition leader Bill Shorten had called him earlier to congratulate him on being re-elected.

If that happens, Turnbull's coalition will forge an alliance with independent and minor party lawmakers to form a minority government.

Despite the victory, Turnbull faces a tough road ahead with a divided party, a fractured Senate and a weary electorate.

The moderate leader needs to face the more conservative lawmakers in his party who are angry about his performance and upset that he ousted his predecessor Tony Abbott in an internal leadership ballot less than a year ago.

The agency said Australia needs "more forceful fiscal policy decisions" to reign in debt and believes such tough measures could be postponed by the new Parliament.