The speaker of Russia's State Duma, the lower house of parliament, resigned Wednesday.

"Today I made a decision to give up my mandate," Speaker Boris Gryzlov said in a statement.

Gryzlov, 60, said he has worked in the Duma for eight consecutive years and considers it "wrong to hold the speaker's post for more than two terms in a row."

Although Russian law imposes no restrictions on tenure, "I'm not going to work in the State Duma," he was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as saying.

Gryzlov said, however, that he would keep his membership in the ruling United Russia party as chairman of the party's Supreme Council.

"I am ready to work wherever the president tells me to," he said.

United Russia vice chairman Yury Shuvalov said a new speaker would be chosen before sixth Duma's first session on Dec. 21. He said Gryzlov's successor most likely would be a United Russia member.

A loyal ally of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Gryzlov has been chairman of the United Russia's Supreme Council since 2002. He had been the Duma speaker since 2003.

Gruzlov headed the United Russia regional list in the Tula region in the Duma elections on Dec.4, during which the ruling party won 238 seats.

VietNamNet/Xinhuanet