Communists, Yabloko faction unite to pass no-confidence to government

The Yabloko and the CPRF factions of the State Duma, parliament's lower house, are uniting to pass a vote of no-confidence to the government. However, this does not mean they are in for establishing a union.

The two factions, although with different motives, have decided after negotiations to act jointly and to unite the lists of the signatures collected, said first deputy head of the Yabloko faction Sergei Ivanenko.

"Any other union in this case is out of the question," he underscored.

Ivanenko said the factions would submit for the consideration of the State Duma Council on June 10 all the necessary documents for giving the vote of no confidence to the government. He noted that the parliamentarians would be given all the documents required: "the motivated conclusion," the draft resolution on the government's resignation and the signatures of the Duma deputies who support this idea.

According to Ivanenko, the Duma regulations do not stipulate clearly how many signatures of should be collected, but it is believed that their number should be at least 90.

The MP did not specify how many signatures have already been collected. He only said that their number "is quite sufficient." Ivanenko said Yabloko had started collecting signatures in favour of the government's resignation since the end of April 2003.