The party is made up of former communists and had only 33 seats in the outgoing parliament.

They had been prepared by officials and by the outgoing Parliament.

If correct, that would be around the size of the reformist presence in the outgoing parliament.

And the outgoing Parliament is trying to pass legislation that would further restrict freedom of expression.

One third of them were members of the outgoing parliament it had previously approved.

Labor, which had 16 seats in the outgoing Parliament, was expected to have 29 or 30 when the final count of paper ballots was complete.

The election could take an unexpected turn, producing a strong showing by one of the three main blocs that split the outgoing Parliament.

About a dozen deputies had been members of the outgoing parliament; the average age of the new members was 45.

Thirteen parties fielded candidates, but only the eight represented in the outgoing parliament secured the minimum 2 per cent of the vote required for representation.

The outgoing Parliament designed the electoral qualifications so as to ensure, as they thought, the return of a Presbyterian majority.