Duma to Mull Request to Yeltsin over New PM

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The lower house of Russia`s parliament decided on Tuesday to vote on an appeal to President Boris Yeltsin asking him to suspend the nomination of Sergei Kiriyenko as new prime minister. Speaker of the State Duma Gennady Seleznyov told reporters after the meeting of the chamber`s managing council that the appeal would also urge the president to hold talks with parliamentary leaders and other major political forces to find a compromise. "We have included into tomorrow`s agenda a debate on the appeal asking Yeltsin to convene round table talks on Thursday and for the time being suspend considering his candidate for the head of the government," Seleznyov said. The president sacked his entire cabinet last week and named the little-known outgoing energy minister Kiriyenko as his choice for a new prime minister. Yeltsin warned the communist-dominated Duma he would use his constitutional powers to dissolve the chamber if it rejected Kiriyenko. Yeltsin`s ultimatum prompted angry reaction in the communist-dominated Duma, which is due to consider Kiriyenko`s nomination on Friday. The deputies say the 35-year-old technocrat, with less than a year of government experience, is too young and inexperienced for the job. The first deputy Duma speaker, Vladimir Ryzhkov of the centrist faction Our Home is Russia, said the appeal was backed by all parliamentary groups except for Vladimir Zhirinovsky`s ultra-nationalists. Ryzhkov told reporters Yeltsin`s positive response could defuse the looming crisis between him and the legislature. "If the president responds positively to the Duma appeal, this will considerably ease tensions and improve Kiriyenko`s chances to be approved," he said. "If consultations are not held, Kiriyenko will be rejected on Friday." Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov indicated the Duma could drag its feet on Kiriyenko`s approval if the chamber did not get an immediate response from Yeltsin. "Under the constitution, laws and regulations we are obliged to take up the candidacy for consideration," Zyuganov said. "But we are not at all obliged to vote on Friday. We can debate (Kiriyenko`s nomination) as long as we need."