MOSCOW. Dec 24 (Interfax-AVN) - Leader of the United Russia party Boris Gryzlov said he has submitted a request to President Vladimir Putin asking that he be relieved of his duties as interior minister.
"My transfer to the State Duma has been agreed upon with the president," Gryzlov told the press in a recess of Untied Russia's 6th congress in Moscow on Wednesday.
Gryzlov said he had to obey a decision by the party's Supreme Council bureau that he work at the State Duma.
The bureau is made up of the party's co-leaders, Gryzlov himself, Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu, Tatarstan President Mintimer Shaimiyev, and Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov.
"It is not my habit to avoid responsibility," Gryzlov said.