1.  The May elections had resulted in an overwhelming victory for the opposition National League for Democracy and allied parties.

2.  An allied party of economic reformers did well enough to bring Putin close to a working majority.

3.  That is likely to be a younger member of an allied party, such as the Yugoslav United Left.

4.  With the seats his party is expected to win, coupled with seats won by allied parties, he would have enough to form a majority coalition.

5.  Pandeli Majko, the newly appointed Socialist prime minister, started talks Wednesday with allied parties to form a new Cabinet.

6.  Ahern told lawmakers that he was concerned about rumors of splits within the Irish Republican Army and its allied political party, Sinn Fein.

7.  An allied party, the extreme nationalist Party of Rights, could capture enough to give Tudjman control of two-thirds of the parliament.

8.  An allied party, the more extreme nationalist Party of Rights, might capture enough seats to effectively push Tudjman over the two-thirds limit.

9.  And particularly on the IRA, whose allied Sinn Fein party wants to take its seats as soon as the new government administration is formed.

10.  As supporters set off firecrackers in celebration outside his home, Atal Bihari Vajpayee met with leaders of allied parties Monday and scheduled more meetings Tuesday.