51.   Takenori Kanzaki, head of the New Komeito, was responding to a request from Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi earlier this month for his party join the ruling bloc.

52.   Ten opposition parties joined in boycotting follow-up voting.

53.   Ten opposition parties joined in the High Court petition to overturn the election, in which the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi party won a large majority of parliamentary seats.

54.   The BNP Parliamentary Party adjourned its meeting for the second consecutive day yesterday without deciding whether the party would join the session today.

55.   The centrist party has joined forces with leading pro-Kremlin parties and given its firm backing to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

56.   The comment was interpreted as a possibility that his party would join the Chuan government.

57.   The makeup of the new assembly depends on whether smaller parties join one of the two larger groups.

58.   The IRA stopped its violent campaign against British rule in July to permit its allied Sinn Fein party to join the talks.

59.   The leader of the NUDP, Maigari Bello Bouba, appealed to other opposition parties to join in the boycott.

60.   The parties joined another pro-Abacha party that nominated the military dictator on Thursday but insisted he resign from the army.