Professor Black said the party's only hope of winning enough seats at the upcoming State election to form its desired balance of power was by snatching seats off the Liberal Party.

With the Nationals struggling to survive, forming an alliance with Labor now offered the rural party more hope of winning critical seats than it would by doing deals with the Liberals.

Speaking to Farm Weekly, he said seeking the balance of power was a difficult proposition because the National Party had only two safe seats in the legislative assembly - Terry Waldron's in Wagin and Brendon Grylls' in the central wheatbelt.

There was an opportunity to claim two more seats - Moore and Blackwood-Stirling.

The Nationals stand a better chance of winning seats in the Upper House, he said.

Regardless of the party's dilemma, this election is more complex than the previous three, because the Nationals are a wild card and they would need Labor preferences to win enough seats to get a balance of power.

Prof Black said, "We don?t know what deals they will make in order to survive but if they do anything it will be at the expense of the Liberals."

The stage is now set for an intriguing battle between the former coalition partners to win the support of country voters before the September 6 vote.

Prof Black said there is a real possibility there could be a 'confused outcome' after the election, if Liberal or Labor do not achieve a working majority of seats in the Lower House.

Both parties are going into the election without any support from minor parties, such as the Nationals, and he believes the big two may need it, in order to win outright and achieve coherent government.

"This election is completely different because there's no coalition in WA. Everything is up for grabs," Prof Black said.