Murmansk Governor Yury Yevdokimov resigned abruptly Saturday after enduring a week of harsh criticism from United Russia over the loss of the Murmansk mayoral election to an independent candidate.

President Dmitry Medvedev welcomed Yevdokimov's resignation and appointed Federal Fisheries Agency deputy head Dmitry Dmitriyenko as the acting governor, the Kremlin said.

Political analysts said it was the first instance that a regional leader had been forced out of office for supporting a non-United Russia candidate in an election.

Independent candidate Sergei Subbotin, a former Murmansk deputy governor, was elected mayor with 61 percent of the vote in a runoff election on March 15, well over the 35 percent collected by the United Russia candidate, incumbent Mayor Mikhail Savchenko.

After the election, the new mayor refused to join United Russia but declared himself a supporter of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who heads United Russia.

Yevdokimov, a United Russia member, had served as Murmansk governor since 1996 and was appointed by then-President Putin to a fourth term in 2007.

In an interview with Gazeta.ru on Thursday, he denied speculation that he would step down.

But on Saturday, he said he thought that it would be best for the country if he quit. "I've always been ready to bear responsibility for my actions," he said, Interfax reported.

Senior United Russia officials had accused him of violating election law by offering support for the non-United Russia candidate on local television and threatened to throw him out of the party.

United Russia said in a weekend statement on its web site that Yevdokimov had resigned on his own accord.

The acting governor, Dmitriyenko, 46, served in submarine units of the Navy from 1980 to 1992 and was appointed as deputy head of the Federal Fisheries Agency last year.

United Russia welcomed Dmtiriyenko's appointment.

"There is a need for professionals able to work in new ways during crisis conditions," party official Sergei Neverov said in the web site statement.

Dmitriyenko will be sworn in as governor on Wednesday, pending confirmation by the regional legislature, which is controlled by United Russia.

Dmitriyenko flew to Murmansk on Saturday to meet with regional United Russia officials.

In his first official statement as acting governor, Dmitriyenko said he would focus on ways to make regional spending more effective.

Alexei Titkov, regions analyst at the Institute of Regional Politics, said the shuffle was the first time that a governor has been replaced after a conflict with United Russia over support of a candidate in elections. "Yevdokimov's resignation will become an example for the other governors," Titkov said.

The resignation follows a series of replacements started when Medvedev dismissed four governors in February. The president has the right to appoint and dismiss governors under a law proposed by Putin in 2004.

Meanwhile, the State Duma on Friday approved in a final third reading a bill that would give the party that holds the most seats in a regional legislature the right to propose gubernatorial candidates.

Under the existing procedure, this right belongs to the presidential envoys to the federal districts.

The bill, which now must be approved by the Federation Council and then the president, says the party should propose at least three candidates to the president no later than 90 days before the incumbent governor's term expires.

If the president doesn't select anyone from this group within a month, the party must propose three more candidates. If the party doesn't do this, the president can select the candidate himself. Also, the president is not obliged to select a candidate from those proposed by the party.

The bill was sent to the Duma in December by Medvedev.

United Russia controls nearly all the regional legislatures in Russia.