PHNOM PENH -- Official and final results of Cambodia's July 27 general election, released on Saturday, confirmed the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) as winner but showed it lacked enough seats to run the country on its own.

A lengthy complaints procedure delayed the announcement of the official poll outcome in the war-scarred Southeast Asian nation by more than one month, Reuters reported.

However, the number of seats in the 123-member National Assembly have been known for some weeks since the different parties were able to calculate their representation from the number of votes cast in each province.

The CPP, led by Prime Minister Hun, a former Khmer Rouge soldier who has been in charge for nearly 20 years, consolidated its grip on power with 73 seats, the National Election Commission said. It had held 64 seats in the previous Parliament.

The royalist FUNCINPEC Party, Hun Sen's junior coalition partner in the former administration, had a disastrous election, winning 26 seats against 43 notched up in Cambodia's last general election in 1998.

The opposition Sam Rainsy Party, led by former finance minister Sam Rainsy, gained ground with 24 seats against 15 last time round.

Although clear winner with a simple majority, Cambodia's constitution says Hun Sen needs a two-thirds majority, or 82 seats, to form a government. However, both Sam Rainsy and FUNCINPEC have refused to join any Hun Sen-led coalition, leaving the country in political stalemate.

A similar deadlock after the 1998 election dragged on for months, culminating in mass protests on the streets of the capital in which several demonstrators were killed in clashes with riot police.