MOSCOW, April 6 (Xinhua) -- Vladimir Zhirinovsky, leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), passed away at the age of 75 on Wednesday "after a severe and prolonged illness," said Vyacheslav Volodin, chairman of Russia's lower house of parliament, the State Duma.
At the plenary session of the State Duma, the lawmakers honored the memory of the senior politician with a minute of silence and announced a break in the meeting.
Zhirinovsky had been the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party since it was founded in 1990. He was a member in all the eight convocations of the State Duma and served as its deputy chairman from 2000 to 2011.
Before Zhirinovsky's death, the LDPR held 23 seats of the 450-seat State Duma, as the fourth largest party in the chamber. ■