Australia ? It could take more than a week to learn who will govern Australia after a cliffhanger election — the closest in nearly 50 years — and the winner may have to woo the support of a handful of independent lawmakers in order to assume power.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Australia’s first female prime minister who seized power in an internal Labor Party coup only two months ago, said Saturday she will remain the nation’s caretaker leader during the “anxious days ahead” as vote-counting continues.

The Australian Electoral Commission website said early today that center-left Labor and the conservative Liberal Party-led coalition each had 71 seats, meaning neither could achieve the 76-seat majority.