minority government

The next election is not due until 2012, and a fractious opposition seems unable to topple his minority government.

If that transpires on election day, Mr Rajoy would find himself at the head of a minority government, with less clout over the economy.

Mr Reinfeldt's coalition narrowly failed to win a majority last September, and his minority government has lost a few votes in the Riksdag.

This points either to a large, fractious coalition or to a minority government.

In a twist, nervy financial markets may make it easier for a minority government to push through tough measures.

After five years of minority government, the Conservative Party won a parliamentary majority in Canada's federal election.

This was "instructive" , says Mr Windsor, in his hopes for a stable minority government lasting a full three-year term.

The Conservatives, who won a majority in May after five years of minority government, have long been hostile to unions.

The model of minority government is not likely to be the policy-by-policy approach practiced in some Scandinavian countries.

If such a result were repeated at the election, Mr Rajoy would find himself at the helm of a minority government.

He is an astute political tactician: he is the longest-serving prime minister of a minority government in Canadian history.

And so the Danes have been copied by Mr Wilders, pictured above, who supports a Dutch minority government but is not part of it.

That will make it harder for opposition parties to vote down the budget of a minority government.

He, too, heads a minority government and believes that the road to a majority runs through Quebec.

Mr Harper is eager to convert his minority government into a majority.

Instead, he is expected to form a minority government, seeking parliamentary support from left or right as the occasion demands.

They revolted, attempting to topple the Conservative minority government and form a coalition to replace it.

A deal with the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) means that his minority government should survive until the election due in early 2012.

Yet the Conservative minority government of Stephen Harper that took power in 2006 has begun to restrict immigration.

The Netherlands' recently elected minority government depends for survival on support from a Muslim-baiting populist.

Mr Bildt suggests a minority government would be preferable.

now Mr Zapatero, whose minority government has secured parliamentary support to pass next year's budget, is closing the gap.

But last August an election left her leading a minority government and relying on independents and Greens for survival.

The fate of the scheme may lie with the Greens, who help keep Ms Gillard's minority government in power.

The Dutch coalition deal was copied from Denmark, where the Danish People's Party has backed a minority government since 2001.

Three years later, Mr Harper's Conservatives ousted the Liberals and formed a minority government.

These are tricky matters, especially for a minority government in a rancorous and partisan parliament.

In Spain, meanwhile, the most pressing issue for the minority government is labour reform.

Mandela was jailed for 27 years by the country's white minority government for resisting apartheid rule.

The Netherlands looked set for its first minority government.

Residents say it is worse than the townships created by the white minority government before the end of racial apartheid in 1994.

Mr Charest will head the province's first minority government since 1878.

How long this public mood lasts will depend on the minority government that emerges.

India's commerce minister must race back to Delhi during the meeting to vote in a "trust" motion faced by his minority government;

More stable would be a Dutch-style deal to secure their backing for a minority government;

First minister of devolved Scotland since 2007 in a minority government,