Four members of the Russian parliament were excluded on Monday from their A Just Russia party for voting in favor of former President Dmitry Medvedev becoming prime minister.
A Just Russia unanimously voted to expel Alexei Mitrofanov, Leonid Levin, Dzhamaladin Gasanov and Nikolai Lakutin after they broke ranks and supported Medvedev's candidacy for the premiership, which the rest of the party’s Duma faction voted against.
President Vladimir Putin submitted Medvedev’s candidacy for the post hours after his inauguration as president on May 7. Medvedev occupied the presidential post in 2008-2012.
United Russia and Liberal Democrats factions, 299 deputies in all, voted in favor of Medvedev, and 144 - Communists and A Just Russia lawmakers - voted against.
Putin’s inauguration and the Duma vote on Medvedev took place amidst resumed opposition protests against alleged vote fraud in the elections. Some of the protests turned violent on May 6, with a number of police and protesters getting injured.
