Deputies bid farewell to 'old Duma' reps following election
(11 Dec 2003) 1. Exterior of State Duma building, Moscow 2. Interior of State Duma 3. Final session 4. Boris Nemtsov, one of the leaders of "Union of Right Forces" party 5. Wide shot of Duma deputies 6. Mid shot of Duma deputies 7. Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov talking to party members 8. Duma speaker Gennady Seleznyov standing up for Russian National anthem 9. Deputies standing up for Russian National anthem 10. Pan of deputies standing up for Russian National anthem 11. Deputies applauding 12. SOUNDBITE (Russian): Gennady Zyuganov, leader of the Russian Communist Party: "The only opposition power is the national bloc KPRF (Communist Party). Within the next two weeks, we will draw our conclusions, we will put together a team and will present to the voters our programme for the changes of the presidential power and our candidate." 13. Set-up shot of leader of the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) Vladimir Zhirinovsky 14. LDPR flag 15. SOUNDBITE (Russian): Vladimir Zhirinovksy, leader of the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia: "We will make our decision by next week, I intend to (run for the president), but we have to consider different circumstances and we will make the final decision in a week. So far, I intend to take part (in the presidential race)." 16. Set-up shot of leader of Russia's liberal Yabloko party, Grigory Yavlinsky 17. Yabloko party emblem 18. SOUNDBITE (English): Grigory Yavlinsky, leader of Russia's right-wing party Yabloko: "He (Putin) monopolized the television, he monopolized the press, he has huge possibilities in administrative pressure. So, it is very difficult to find the way how to deliver the different from his message to the people. But, we will try to do our best." 19. Various of Duma deputies gathering for photographs STORYLINE: As the outgoing Russian State Duma gathered for its final session on Thursday, the presidential campaign officially started. On the agenda of the lower chamber of the Russian parliament were an address from the speaker of the State Duma, Gennady Zeleznyov and a "family photo". After the final session, Gennady Zyuganov, leader of the Russian Communist Party (KPRF) said that a candidate from his party will run in the next presidential elections, however he did not mention any names. Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the leader of the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) said that most likely, he will take part in the presidential race, but his final decision will come within a week. Grigory Yavlinsky, leader of the right-wing Yabloko party, said that Russian President Vladimir Putin will have a lot more resources during the presidential campaign than any other candidate, but he added that the right-wing is planning to stand and fight for the highest post in the country. Yabloko did not earn the five percent of the vote in the parliamentary elections required to secure a place in the Duma. Zyuganov, Yavlinsky and Zhirinovsky ran unsuccessfully for president in 1996 and 2000. Russia's upper house of parliament set March 14, 2004, as the date for Russia's next presidential election. Putin is expected to run and win by a large margin, though he has not yet declared his candidacy. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: / ap_archive Facebook: / aparchives Instagram: / apnews You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
