MOSCOW, January 11 (AVN) - Army General Andrei Nikolayev, former head of the Federal Border Guard Service and deputy of the new State Duma lower house of parliament, has asked the Communist Party faction to support him in the race for chairman of the Duma defence committee, a competent faction source told the Military News Agency.
Nikolayev, who was elected in a single-mandate constituency with support of the Bloc Headed by General Andrei Nikolayev and Academician Svyatoslav Fyodorov, is currently looking for influential patrons to uphold him in the Duma, the source claimed.
According to him, the communists made it clear that they do not reject co-operation with the general, but they have their own candidates for the post. One of them is former defence minister Igor Rodionov who was elected to parliament on Communist Party lists.