MOSCOW, Feb 7: Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov has been summoned before parliament on Wednesday to defend the performance of his government, which is to face a motion of no confidence, a senior lawmaker said.

The opposition Communist and leftist nationalist Rodina parties have collected 101 signatures calling for a vote of no confidence in Mr Fradkov's administration, which has come under fire recently over unpopular welfare cuts.

The head of the State Duma lower house of parliament's legal affairs committee, Pavel Krasheninnikov, on Monday told reporters after a meeting of the pro-Kremlin United Russia party's presidium that it had decided to ask Fradkov to appear before lawmakers.

United Russia's leader, Duma speaker Boris Gryzlov, said that the majority party did not support the call for the government's dismissal.

"Before sacking a minister, you have to give him the chance to finish his task," the ITAR-TASS news agency quoted him as saying.

However, a senior figure in United Russia, deputy speaker Lyubov Sliska, repeated her call for the dismissal of several ministers.-AFP