Boris Gryzlov, the Duma speaker, told reporters after a Duma Council meeting on Thursday that registering a new faction was outside the regulations committee's jurisdiction.
"The committee held a meeting and made this decision," Gryzlov said. "The issue of establishing a new faction will be submitted for the house's discussion on Friday."
Oleg Kovalev, the regulations committee head, said Homeland's split into two factions of the same name was the result of political parties running for parliament (in December 2003) as one election bloc.
The leftist patriotic bloc Homeland had united several political parties, including Dmitry Rogozin's Homeland and People's Will led by Sergei Baburin. After the elections the parties formed a faction, Homeland. Baburin intends to lead the "new" Homeland.
