New Duma opens, picks Putin ally as speaker
The new State Duma that emerged from this month's bitterly disputed elections has picked an ally of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and a former Kremlin chief of staff to be its speaker as its first major order of business.
Sergei Naryshkin was backed by 238 deputies in the vote.
Putin's United Russia party was awarded 238 of the 450 seats in the Duma, the lower house of parliament, in December 4 elections.
Critics claim the election was rigged in favor of United Russia and have called for a rerun.
The Communists have 92 seats, pro-Kremlin A Just Russia
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