Russia's opposition-dominated State Duma lower house of parliament rejected Viktor Chernomyrdin on Monday in a second of three possible votes on President Boris Yeltsin's prime minister-designate.
But Chernomyrdin, who was prime minister for five years until sacked by Yeltsin in March, stood firm and berated deputies for keeping the country in suspense during an unprecedented economic crisis.
"Only in Indonesia did they reach the point where they burned down the entire country," Chernomyrdin told Duma deputies just before the vote, referring to anti-crisis riots in the Asian country earlier this year.
"They burned down the whole country. That is where we are headed. That is what you are appealing for. That is where you want us to go."
Deputies voted 273 against and 138 for. There was one abstention in the voting, which followed last-minute procedural wrangling. Yeltsin has vowed to resubmit Chernomyrdin's name a third time. A third Duma rejection would force Yeltsin to dissolve the chamber and call an election.
Source: Flight Daily News