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Russian Communists Still Pursues No-Confidence Vote: Zyuganov
The communist faction of Russia's State Duma (lower house of parliament) is not ready to abandon a no-confidence motion against the government following a confidential meeting between its leader Gennady Zyuganov and President Vladimir Putin.
The Interfax news agency Thursday quoted Zyuganov as saying that his two-hour meeting with Putin on late Wednesday was "very thorough and mutually beneficial", but his faction will not quit the no-confidence vote scheduled for next Wednesday.
Refusing to give details of the meeting, Zyuganov only said the "president is very worried about Russia's current situation and attentively listened to the assessments from the Communist Party."
"We are not satisfied with the current situation and call for measures we had previously suggested," said Zyuganov leader of the State Duma's largest faction.
The Communist move was initially seen largely as a demonstrative action, for the party and its allies only hold 150 of the 450 Duma seats.
But the situation took a dramatic turn after the key pro- Kremlin Unity party said Monday it might support the no-confidence vote. Unity said it wants early elections in which it wish it could get more seats for the Kremlin.
According to Russian laws, the president has to sack the cabinet or call an early parliamentary election if a no-confidence vote against the government is approved in the Duma.
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