The Russian government led by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev resigned on Wednesday after President Vladimir Putin announced a series of political changes in his speech on the state of affairs, reports TASS, Reuters and EFE.

The main measure announced by the Russian president aims to strengthen the role of Parliament in forming the government, giving it the prerogative to elect the head of government whom the president will then be forced to appoint. Currently, the Russian parliament only confirms the election made by the head of state.

Medvedev, a close associate of Putin, took over the executive leadership in May 2018, two months after his re-election as president. The announcement of the resignation was made by Medvedev in an intervention broadcast by state television, which President Putin also attended, according to Agerpres.

The latter proposed on Wednesday to hold a referendum to revise the Constitution in order to strengthen Parliament’s powers, while maintaining the presidential character of the political system it has been managing for 20 years.