Russia's new Duma elects speaker

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, December 30, 2003

Russia's new Duma elects speaker

Boris Gryzlov, leader of the United Russia party, was elected speaker of the Russian State Duma, the lower house of parliament, at the first session of the newly elected legislature on Monday.

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Boris Gryzlov, leader of the United Russia party, was elected speaker of the Russian State Duma, the lower house of parliament, at the first session of the newly elected legislature on Monday.

Gryzlov resigned from the post as interior minister last week.

At the session, Russian President Vladimir Putin urged lawmakers to make improvement of Russians' standards of living a top priority in their work.

"I suggest that first of all we should concentrate our attention on those questions that are directly connected with the quality of life for Russian citizens," Putin told the legislators,who gathered for their first session following the Dec. 7 parliamentary elections.

During the session, the Duma formally registered four factions,which are the United Russia, the Communist Party of Russian Federation (KPRF), the Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR) and the Rodina (Homeland) bloc.

In the Dec. 7 elections, the United Russia, the pro-Putin's party, won 300 seats in the 450-seat lower chamber. The LDPR and Rodina, the likely allies of United Russia, each won 36 seats. TheKPRF, the main opposition party, won only 52 seats.

The overwhelming victory of the pro-Putin United Russia with a two-third majority in the Duma will make it possible to revise theconstitution.

Putin has announced he will run for a second term and is widelyexpected to be re-elected in the next March presidential election.

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