g, Yeltsin was pressed to sack Chubais by Gennady Seleznyov, Communist speaker of the opposition-dominated lower house of parliament. Interfax news agency said Yeltsin had stated that "so far he sees no alternative (candidate) to this post". RIA news agency quoted Seleznyov as saying Yeltsin had told him: "That is why this theme is closed now." The discussion took place during a meeting of the "big four" - Yeltsin, Seleznyov, Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin and the speaker of the Federation Council or upper chamber, Yegor Stroyev. "The president expressed no desire to remove Anatoly Borisovich Chubais and said that his presence in the government was necessary," Stroyev told reporters. Chubais, 42, lost his post as finance minister last week for receiving $90,000 for writing a still unpublished book on privatisation. The publisher has links with a group which won bids in two recent big state sell-offs where the government was accused of favouritism. But Yeltsin kept Chubais, who is widely respected in the West but hated by the opposition at home, as one of two first deputy prime ministers. Chubais is suing for libel over allegations of impropriety and says the privatisations were fair.