|
MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Communist no-confidence vote in Prime
Minister Mikhail Kasyanov's government failed by a wide margin
in Russia's lower house of parliament Wednesday. Kasyanov, in office since last May, did not turn up at the
session of the State Duma, where many deputies refused to back
the Communist motion but still criticized his government.
President Vladimir Putin was on a brief skiing break in
Siberia. Only 127 members voted in favor, far short of the 226 votes
needed to pass in the 450-seat assembly. Seventy-six voted
against and five abstained. Large numbers of deputies made good
on their promises not to cast ballots. The outcome had been expected as only the Communists and
their Agrarian party allies had pledged support. The
pro-Kremlin Unity Party, which had earlier suggested it would
back the no-confidence vote as a tactical move to improve its
standing in the Duma, was among those refusing to vote. The motion was the first time since Putin came to power 14
months ago that the Communists, the Duma's largest group, had
openly opposed Kremlin policies. Prime Minister Explains Absence Kasyanov later said he did not attend because he believed
the motion did not represent opinion in the Duma. He noted ``big
differences'' in talks with Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov. ``We did not view today's debate as an invitation by the
entire Duma to engage in dialogue on essential issues, but
rather a challenge issued by a single group,'' he told private
NTV television. ``All the complaints about the government aired
during the session are well known.'' Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin described the lopsided
failure of the motion as ``a worthy response for a government
which is working hard and resolving the most difficult of
tasks.'' Zyuganov had earlier told the Duma that ministers had
solved none of Russia's problems left by ex-President Boris
Yeltsin's eight years in office. Kasyanov, he said, promoted
the same policies that had pitched Russia into a 1998 financial
crisis. ``This government is pursuing a ruinous policy for the
country. It is not making the slightest attempt to dig its way
out of this deep rut,'' he told the chamber. Other groups steered clear of backing the Communists. Boris Nemtsov of the Union of Right-Wing Forces said the
government was a ''ship standing still'' failing to provide heat
and electricity to vast regions. Sergei Ivanenko of the liberal
Yabloko party spoke of ``colossal instability'' in the Kremlin. Putin, by far Russia's most popular politician, has had
little trouble in securing the Duma's approval for most of his
proposals, including a deficit-free budget and laws to
centralize authority and trim regional leaders' powers. Unity caused a furor leading up to the vote, suggesting
that if the government lost the motion and Putin dissolved
parliament, it could win more seats at the communists' expense. Unity, the Duma's second largest group, was set up weeks
before the 1999 parliamentary election with the sole plank of
backing Kremlin policies when Putin was still prime minister.
Most of its officials remain unknown to the public.
See the original at http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010314/wl/russia_vote_dc_4.html
| 