The FINANCIAL — According to RIA Novosti, Boris Gryzlov, a leader of the pro-Kremlin United Russia party, has been reelected speaker of the new State Duma, the lower house of parliament, following the December 2 elections.
The United Russia, which gained 315 seats in the 450-seat legislature, will also be represented by First Deputy Speaker Oleg Morozov, who has been reelected to the post, and another six deputy speakers. One of them will be 34-year-old 2006 Olympic champion in speed skating, Svetlana Zhurova.
The other three deputy speakers represent the remaining three parties that had made it into the fifth Russian Duma – the ultra-nationalist LDPR party, the Communists and the left-wing A Just Russia.
The next session of the Duma will be held January 11.
