Russian government survives no-confidence vote in Duma

Russian government survives no-confidence vote in Duma
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

Moscow, March 14: Russian Government survived a vote of no-confidence in the State Duma, Lower House of Parliament on Wednesday.

The no-confidence motion initiated by the Communists, first since theVladimir Putin's election as President last year, was overwhelmingly defeated by 127 to 76, with five deputies abstaining.

The motion required a simple majority of 226 votes in the 450-member LowerHouse. Only Agrarian Party faction with some members from other smallgroups voted in support of the motion.

Intervening in the debate, Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov made ablistering attack on the Government for its failure in improvingthe lot of common people.

The rejection was a fore-gone conclusion as pro-Kremlin Unity partyfaction in the Duma had backed off on Tuesday, declaring that the factionwould not participate in the no-confidence vote against Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov's government.

Earlier, Unity leaders had announced that they would back the motion,forcing Putin to dissolve the Parliament and call early elections. Kasyanov himself was not present in the House during the discussion on theno-confidence motion, provoking angry protests from many deputies, cuttingacross the party-factions.