After sudden resignation, Russian PM Medvedev to become deputy head of Security Council

After the surprise resignation of Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday, President Vladimir Putin has offered Medvedev, the position of deputy head of the country's Security Council. Medvedev has agreed to take up the role, in which he’ll oversee defence and security issues. The prime minister announced his government’s resignation shortly after the president’s state of the nation address on Wednesday. Medvedev has been prime minister for nearly eight years. After Putin's first two terms ended in 2008, Medvedev served as a placeholder president from 2008 to 2012. 

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About the Security Council

The Security Council is a consultative body that is chaired by the president himself. It consists of several ministers, representatives of the parliament, and law enforcement, and is tasked with assisting the head of state in working out the most important decisions on national security. 

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Putin proposes constitutional changes

Medvedev resigned from his post after Putin announced the proposed constitutional amendments. Putin proposed several key amendments to Russia’s constitution and political system. One of those was giving the parliament the power to approve the candidacies of the prime minister and his cabinet. That means that he could keep himself in power well past the end of his term in 2024. The president currently holds the authority to make those appointments. Medvedev said in televised comments that he needed to resign in light of Putin's proposed changes in government.

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Putin has been in power longer than any other Russian or Soviet leader since Josef Stalin, who led from 1924 until his death in 1953.

President Vladimir Putin also named Tax Service chief Mikhail Mishustin as Russia's new prime minister, the Kremlin said Wednesday. Keeping a low profile, the 53-year-old Mishustin has worked in the government since 1998 while serving as the head of the Federal Tax Service since 2010.

(With Agency Inputs)

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