51.   Jospin can also count on receiving votes switched from other leftist candidates defeated Sunday.

52.   Leftist candidates appeared well-placed in those districts where a second round of voting will be held later this month, the commission added.

53.   Leftist candidate Luis Eduardo Garzon was also pessimistic and predicted that an eventual breakdown of the peace process could cost the lives of one million people.

54.   Meanwhile the main likely leftist candidate, outgoing European Commission President Jacques Delors, has gained ground in opinion polls, apparently fuelled by divisions in the right.

55.   The fifth leftist candidate, Oleg Bogomolov, was unopposed in the Urals region of Kurgan.