Toronto, Canada’s governing Liberal Party led by Justin Trudeau is leading in 157 out of 338 federal ridings in the country’s 44th national election with over 70 percent of polls reporting, according to official results.
Most major Canadian broadcasters are projecting that the Liberals will win the most seats in Monday’s election, while state broadcaster CBC is forecasting a minority government headed by Trudeau.
Trudeau’s party currently commands 31.9 percent of support, followed by the Tories with 34.1 percent and the New Democrats (NDP) at 17.4 percent.
All 338 of Canada’s House of Commons seats are up for grabs with the winner of the election declared based on a contentious first-past-the-post system, where candidates with the highest number of votes win without any further runoff ballots. At least 170 seats are needed to form a majority government, although most projections currently point to a minority government.
Should the Liberals fall short of a majority mandate – most analysts believe Trudeau triggered the election to reclaim the majority mandate lost in the 2019 federal election – opposition parties could form a coalition government.
However, a source told Sputnik that the NDP appears to be interested in seeking representation in Trudeau’s new cabinet and joining with the Liberals to form a collective plurality in the House of Commons.
(EW correspondent)
