Veteran Russian politician Aman Tuleyev has been elected as speaker of the Kemerovo regional legislature in Siberia, eight days after he resigned as governor following a shopping-mall fire that killed 64 people.

Tuleyev was elected speaker on April 10 by vote of 38-1 in the legislature, which like others across Russia is dominated by the Kremlin-controlled United Russia party.

Tuleyev, 73, had been governor of the coal-mining region in Siberia since 1997.

He resigned on April 1, saying it was "morally impossible" to stay on after the March 25 fire at the Zimnyaya Vishnya (Winter Cherry) mall in the regional capital -- one of the deadliest blazes in post-Soviet Russia.

Tuleyev had faced public calls to step down, including by people in a crowd of thousands who demonstrated outside his administration's office two days after the fire.

He and his subordinates were criticized over what many have seen as a callous response to the tragedy, including their characterizations of public outrage as the work of political opportunists.

Tuleyev received a parliamentary seat on April 3, two days after he resigned as governor.

His election as speaker came after the previous speaker resigned from the post and said Tuleyev deserved to replace him.

Residents, relatives of victims, and Russians nationwide blamed corruption and government negligence for the high casualty toll in blaze, whose victims included 41 children -- some of whom died after being trapped in a locked movie theater at the mall.

Investigators said initial investigations indicated that blocked fire exits, a shutdown alarm system, and "glaring violations" of safety rules exacerbated the human toll of the fire.

Seven people have been arrested in the case, including the head of the local building-inspection agency and an executive with the firm that owns the shopping mall.

With reporting by Tayga.info</s>A week after he resigned as Kemerovo governor, citing an unbearable "moral" burden following a shopping-mall fire that killed 64 people, veteran Russian politician Aman Tuleyev is expected to be elected as speaker of the regional legislature.

The chairman of the Kemerovo regional council of deputies, Aleksei Sinitsyn, stepped down on April 9 and said that Tuleyev deserved to replace him.

Sinitsyn said that the lawmakers in the council were "Tuleyev's team" and added, "I think it is absolutely fair that the team leader runs it."

The council's press service said that the new speaker will be elected on April 10.

Tuleyev received a parliamentary seat on April 3, two days after he resigned as governor.

Tuleyev, who is 73 and had been governor of the coal-mining region in Siberia since 1997, had faced calls to resign in the wake of the March 25 fire at the Zimnyaya Vishnya (Winter Cherry) mall.

He and his subordinates were criticized over what many have seen as a callous response to the tragedy, including their characterizations of public outrage as the work of political opportunists.

Residents, relatives of victims, and Russians nationwide blamed corruption and government negligence for the high casualty toll in blaze, whose victims included 41 children -- some of whom died after being trapped in a locked movie theater at the mall.

Investigators said initial investigations indicated that blocked fire exits, a shutdown alarm system, and "glaring violations" of safety rules exacerbated the human toll of the fire.

Seven people have been arrested in the case, including the head of the local building-inspection agency and an executive with the firm that owns the shopping mall.

With reporting by TASS and RIA Novosti</s>Aman Tuleyev, 73, resigned one week after the March 25 Winter Cherry mall fire that killed more than 60 people trapped inside the building. “With such a heavy burden, it’s impossible to work as governor,” Tuleyev said before leaving his post, which he had held for over two decades.

The embattled governor of Russia's Siberian region of Kemerovo, who stepped down last week after a deadly shopping mall fire, has now been voted in as a speaker of the region’s parliament.

The Kemerovo regional council, dominated by the ruling United Russia party, voted 38-1 to appoint Tuleyev as its speaker on Tuesday, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.

"My conscience is clear before God, and that's the most important thing," the new speaker told the deputies.

The previous speaker, Aleksei Sinitsyn, stepped down from the post on Monday to make way for Tuleyev.

“I think it is absolutely fair and proper for the team to be led by its leader,” Sinitsyn said, referring to the region’s ex-governor.

At least one United Russia member in the State Duma, Sergei Neverov, opposed the move.

“I think the people will simply not understand this decision,” he told Interfax.
Aman Tuleyev, who resigned as governor of Kemerovo Oblast after a shopping centre fire killed 64 people there, is elected speaker of the regional legislature.