Mr Viktor Chernomyrdin's hopes of being confirmed as Russia's next prime minister are considerably brighter after yesterday's postponement of a vote on his candidacy.
Leaders of the different factions in the Duma will meet President Yeltsin for a round table discussion on Monday in a further attempt to resolve a political crisis inextricably linked to the country's economic collapse.
There were signs yesterday that Mr Chernomyrdin's support was increasing and also of an emerging split within the Communist Party of the Russian Federation which is the strongest grouping in the Duma.
A leading Communist deputy, Mr Vladimir Semago, was almost shaking with anger at his party's decision to agree to President Yeltsin's demand for a postponement of the vote.
The weekend delay would, he said, allow people to be bought. "Our communists have no unified approach. They just have individual interests," he said in the Duma's ante-chamber immediately after the vote.
He was convinced that members of his party were prepared to defect to the Chernomyrdin camp if they got a deal from the President on Monday.
Mr Semago, it should be noted, is less vulnerable than most of his comrades to financial inducements from the opposing camp. He is in the somewhat oxymoronic position of being not only a leading communist but also a multi-millionaire casino owner.
Mr Chernomyrdin has already been voted down once by the Duma and should his candidature be rejected three times Mr Yeltsin will be obliged to dissolve the Duma and hold elections.
Another Communist deputy, Mr Valentin Kuptsov, who leads the hard-line faction of the party, was adamant that his party would "take no steps back".
On Monday it would demand the replacement of Mr Chernomyrdin by a candidate agreed by the faction leaders and Mr Yeltsin, he said.
It is understood that the Communists would be prepared to back Moscow's populist mayor, Mr Yuri Luzhkov, for the premiership.
The parliament's upper house, the Federation Council, however, voted strongly in favour of Mr Chernomyrdin yesterday in a clear signal that it wanted nothing to do with Mr Luzhkov. Last night Mr Alexander Kotenkov, the President's representative in the Duma, indicated that Mr Yeltsin would continue to give his full backing to Mr Chernomyrdin.
As acting prime minister, Mr Chernomyrdin has proposed an "economic dictatorship" for Russia which would include the establishment of a "currency board" containing some non-Russian members, to stabilise the rouble.
The inclusion of foreigners is likely to be a sticking point for many Communists and others who are imbued with a strong sense of Russian nationalism.
Proposals to give the Duma greater powers, particularly in the area of appointments to middle-ranking positions, however, may give some Communists a degree of patronage which would be enough to persuade them to support Mr Yeltsin's candidate.
Certainly the mood in the offices of Our Home is Russia, Mr Chernomyrdin's own party, if not jubilant, was very much more optimistic last night than it was earlier in the day.
Deputy Alexei Ivanov, a member of the Duma's international relations committee, was sure that things were moving in Mr Chernomyrdin's direction.
"I am much more confident than I was yesterday. Some independent deputies have now indicated their support and I think the decision by the Senate (Federation Council) to support Chernomyrdin was very important. If the President makes it clear on Monday that he will stand by Chernomyrdin right up to a third vote, then he will gather even more support."
Mr Chernomyrdin can now count on the support of the self-styled Liberal Democratic Party of the extreme right-wing leader, Mr Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who committed his 50 deputies to vote for the President's nominee at a press conference on Thursday.
Mr Vitaly Linnik, another deputy from Mr Chernomyrdin's party, described Mr Zhirinovsky's decision as a pragmatic one and also predicted defections from the Communist Party.
Some Communist deputies, he said, wanted Mr Yeltsin to dissolve the parliament so that all the blame could be put on the President and this would help them get re-elected. Others, however, wanted to keep the Duma alive and these were likely to break ranks.
The Duma, incidentally, seems specifically designed to make deputies wary of a dissolution. It contains shops and restaurants where prices are much lower than in the outside world. Each deputy is provided with an individual office and a personal computer in the vast building which in Soviet times housed Gosplan, the organisation which planned the USSR's economy.
Yesterday bottles of Kilkenny were on sale at the equivalent of 30p, premium quality Armenian Brandy at £7, Russian "Champagne" at £1.50 per bottle and Caviar at £6 for a two-ounce jar.
There was, astonishingly however, no Vodka. "It was all sold out yesterday," a sales assistant told me. Hoarding of Russia's most valued substance appears to have begun in the Duma itself.