After the constitutional referendum that gave the Kyrgyz President, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, greater powers and called early elections on December, 16, he dissolved the parliament, on Monday, the parliament spokesman, Marat Sultanov, told the Interfax News Agency.

His action of dissolving the parliament was said to have aimed at easing tensions within the government, but the opposition criticize it as being a move to consolidate Bakiyev’s power.

The constitutional referendum made amendments to allow Bakiyev more power to appoint officials along with the right to dissolve the parliament, which was elected under the former president, Askar Akayev.

The Kyrgyz leader’s decree dissolved the parliament under the charges of adopting resolutions contradicting legislation, Itar-Tass news agency quoted the presidential press service.

The changes proposed by the referendum will switch the parliamentary selections to a proportional system based solely on party lists, which would favour the dominant, pro-presidential party.

The referendum was said to have been supported by a majority of 75 percent of the voters, The Central Elections Commission said at a press conference held on Monday.

Yet, some non-governmental organizations and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) that have monitorized the referendum have previously put under question the legitimacy of votes in the post-Soviet state.