1.   Bisky, a moderate, had threatened to quit his post if the party did not approve a break with its communist past.

2.   But for many older voters, the Communist past is seared into their lives and a vote for a former Communist is unthinkable.

3.   He passed a law late last year that barred some prominent opponents from running because of their communist past even though he was a senior Communist Party official himself.

4.   He says his party has broken with the communist past and is striving to model itself after European Social Democrats.

5.   In a June speech, Primakov said there was no danger that Russia would return to its Communist past.

6.   In his lengthy TV interview, Kiriyenko said he was not ashamed of his communist past and keeps his party membership card as an important memento.

7.   It is a commonplace to say that Russia cannot revert to its Communist past.

8.   More than other former Soviet republics, Lithuania has engaged in an active public debate about the horrors of its communist past.

9.   NATO membership is seen as emblematic of being accepted in the West, of having grown out of the Communist past.

10.   Remorseless about his younger opponent and his Communist past, Walesa thundered.