MOSCOW (AP) -- Flamboyant politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky tried to woo legislators into legalizing polygamy in Russia, but the parliament gave him a big brushoff Wednesday, rejecting the proposal by a wide margin.
Zhirinovsky, noted for his unpredictable behavior, proposed allowing Russian men to take up to four wives, saying that would help stop the proliferation of homeless and fatherless children. He claimed women outnumber men by about 9 million in the country of 146 million.
The Duma, or lower house of parliament, voted 271-21 to reject the proposal, Russian news agencies reported.
Svetlana Goryacheva, chairwoman of the Duma committee on women, families and youth, said there are more women than men in the 35-45 age bracket, but that in the 15-35 bracket there are 600,000 more men than women.
Russia's demographic problems -- which include a population declining by about 1,000 people a day -- should be addressed by other measures, "not by creating harems for the privileged," she said, according to the news agency Interfax.
