CANBERRA, Australia - Australia will hold an unprecedented five byelections on the same day in July due to a political crisis over a 117-year-old constitutional ban on dual citizens holding seats in Parliament.
Speaker Tony Smith told the House of Representatives on Thursday that the byelections in four states will be held July 28.
The elections give Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull a chance to increase his conservative coalition's single-seat majority in the House, where parties need a majority to govern. Four of the electorates had been held by dual citizens belonging to the centre-left opposition Labor Party and one was held by an independent legislator.
But a firmer grip on power could be short-lived, with Australia facing a general election within a year and potentially as early as August.
