In the State Duma yesterday, Mr Vladimir Zhirinovsky strutted aggressively through the corridors accompanied by two of the most sinister-looking thugs this correspondent has ever seen.
If a fist fight had taken place I would not have fancied the chances of Mr Grigory Yavlinsky, Mr Zhirinovsky's main assailant during the machinations over the vote for prime minister.
While no concrete evidence of bribery was put forward, Mr Zhirinovsky's unerring support for President Yeltsin in every crucial vote since the Duma was established in 1993 was pointed to by many suspicious deputies. The neo-fascist leader's style has been to speak out ferociously against Mr Yeltsin for publicity purposes and then vote quietly in favour of the government.
Mr Kiriyenko was officially appointed prime minister shortly after the vote. In the event of Mr Yeltsin's death or incapacitation, he would become president of Russia at 35 years of age for three months before elections are held.
In his first speech as Prime Minister Mr Kiriyenko called for an end to bitterness, quoted the tsarist prime minister Pyotr Stolypin to this effect, and used an old-fashioned imperialist term by asking the deputies to work in the interests of "Great Russia."
But there was already talk of a vote of no confidence in him as deputies locked up their offices in preparation for a weekend in their country dachas. Communist deputy Yevgeny Smetankin was sure such a vote would be taken when the budget comes up for debate in July. He blamed the Yabloko faction deputies for Mr Kiriyenko's success. "They said they would not vote in a secret ballot but they did and they supported Kiriyenko," he said.
Yabloko Deputy Yuri Shchekochikhin strongly denied this accusation, and there was some concrete evidence that he did not vote. A bottle of Armenian brandy, two-thirds empty, sat on his desk as we spoke. He just could not have consumed that much in the few minutes between the vote and our meeting.
Once a famous journalist who exposed corruption in the Brezhnev era, Mr Shchekochikhin was thoroughly disillusioned by the vote.
"I have nothing against Kiriyenko. It is the president I oppose. He wants all power in his hands and now he has it," he said.
Pro-Kiriyenko Deputy Yuri Utkin was happy with the result but foresaw trouble beginning in December. "The constitution says the president cannot dissolve the Duma in the final year of its term. I expect the opposition to obstruct everything in that last year," he said.
Reuters adds: The United States and Germany, Russia's main trading partner, welcomed the news. The benchmark 105-share Russian Trading System index rose more than 2 per cent before slipping back to 326.16 points, up 4.31 per cent on the week.
"The government can once again focus on tackling the real problems facing the country," said Mr Dirk Damrau, head of research at Moscow investment bank Renaissance Capital.
In a televised address, Mr Yeltsin said Mr Kiriyenko had proved himself resilient during the 30 days since the former government was sacked for going soft on economic reforms and that personal strength would serve him well in the weeks ahead. Mr Kiriyenko said he would present the new cabinet selection to Mr Yeltsin for approval on Tuesday. "I have quite a heavy workload this weekend," he said.
