Russia's main centrist political party has announced a merger with Unity, the party of President Vladimir Putin, in a move seen as further strengthening the Kremlin's hold over the country.
The party, Fatherland-All Russia, a coalition of centrist groups, said the move reflected their agreement with Unity on a wide range of issues.
"We have held consultations and agreed we should lead our groups to the formation of a single political party," said the party leader, Mr Yuri Luzhkov, mayor of Moscow.
The move, by a party that was once a bitter rival of former president Boris Yeltsin, who made Mr Putin his successor, makes Unity the largest party in the Duma, or parliament, giving Mr Putin an expected clear run to push through legislation.
It means the only effective opposition, ironically, is the Communist Party, the second-largest after Unity.
The Communists in fact support Mr Putin on most of his programmes, objecting mostly over plans for privatisations.
Until now the Communists had been the biggest single party in parliament. Now, with their allies the Agrarian party, they command 127 seats, with Unity commanding at least 132 seats in the 450-seat Duma.
Many of the remaining MPs are Independents. One Independent MP and another from the small Liberal Democratic Party of Russia also announced they are joining Unity.
Unity has yet to celebrate its second birthday. It was created in the autumn of 1999 by Mr Putin, then prime minister. He called for a measure of unity while he sorted out the nation's problems.
Meanwhile, Moscow newspapers report that Mr Putin has moved to tighten further his hold on the country by creating a new policing unit based in the Kremlin.
The State Investigative Committee will combine the investigative powers now held by the secret service, the prosecutor's office and the tax police.
And parliament has passed a "State of Emergency" Bill, under which anyone suspected of terrorism can be kept in jail without charge for up to three months, with the President empowered to declare a state of emergency for up to 30 days.
None of this is likely to endear Russia to the West.
While some of these reforms will take time to go through, the result is that Mr Putin will be one of the most powerful presidents in the world.
Last week he called for a weakening of parliament's powers to amend the federal budget, saying that the unruly horsetrading could be ended by simply handing MPs the complete budget and giving them only a "yes" or "no" vote.