London: Conservative leader David Cameron on Friday moved a step further towards assuming power by making a
"big, open and comprehensive offer" to the Liberal Democrats
party that emerged as key to government formation after no
party won a majority in the May 6 general election.
The Conservative party so far won 302 of the 641 seats
whose results were declared in the 650 member House of
Commons.
The Labour party lost its 2005 majority with 256 seats
while the Liberal Democrats returned less number of seats with
56 seats compared to 62 it won in 2005.
Observers said Cameron`s offer appeared to tick all
the boxes for the Liberal Democrats party, which was expected
to respond later on Friday.
Claiming that the "outgoing Labour government" had
left behind "terrible problems" in various spheres of life,
Cameron said there were several ground of agreement between
his party and the Liberal Democrats, and went on to list many
of them.
On contentious issues such as electoral reform,
Cameron offered to set up an all-party committee to go into
the question of changing the electoral system from
first-past-the-post system to proportional representation
based on the number of votes polled by parties.
The "outgoing" Labour government is leaving the "worst
inheritance" in (10) Downing Street for 60 years, Cameron
said, adding that starting to deal with the mounting budget
deficit this year was crucial.
The new government, he said, must take urgent
decisions, and urged the Liberal Democrats to work with him.
This could mean a minority Conservative government or
a "stronger, more collaborative" option, he said, adding the
UK needs strong and stable government and it needs it
"quickly".
"There is a strong basis for a strong government"
between the Liberal Democrats and the Conservative parties, he
said.
PTI
