31.  But a civil engineer, Jorge Soto, said he cast his vote for the governing party, faulting Barrio for allowing crime to run out of control.

32.  But he also knows that an alliance with Kaunda could give some sparkle to a governing party that has otherwise lost its luster.

33.  But it left millions of Mexicans believing that the governing party would use violence, rather than voluntary reform, to preserve its power.

34.  But it remains a pygmy compared with the governing party.

35.  But Jalisco has also been battered in recent years by a succession of events that have eroded faith in the governing party.

36.  But its governor in Chihuahua, which borders Texas, is a lame duck, because last month the party lost gubernatorial elections to the governing party.

37.  But in Aguascalientes, a small manufacturing state north of Mexico City, the governing PRI party appeared likely to suffer an important defeat.

38.  But many Angolans believe the military, which is thought to have a powerful voice in the governing party, has no intention of sharing power with Savimbi.

39.  But many people behind Swapo, as the governing party is known, still care less about roads and schools than about liberation and loyalty.

40.  But Odinga and Kibaki have also charged that the governing party had infiltrated the Electoral Commission and purposely kept presidential ballots from being delivered to opposition strongholds.