South Africa's president urges parties to find common ground in talks after election deadlock

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa announced its final election results Sunday that confirmed no party won a majority, and unprecedented coalition talks were starting to find a way forward for Africa’s most advanced economy. President Cyril Ramaphosa immediately called in a speech for parties to overcome their differences and find “common ground” to form the first national coalition government in the country’s young democracy.

Ramaphosa’s African National Congress party had already lost its 30-year majority after more than 99% of votes were counted by Saturday and showed it couldn’t surpass 50%. The ANC received around 40% of the votes in last week’s election in the final count, the largest share.

Without a majority it will need to agree on a coalition with another party or parties for the first time to co-govern and reelect Ramaphosa for a second term. South Africa’s national elections decide how many seats each party gets in Parliament and lawmakers elect the president later.