KIEV, Sept. 28 – Ukraine’s opposition parties on Tuesday appealed to world leaders with a warning that the government is preparing to resort to sweeping manipulation at the upcoming local elections.

The appeal, signed by nine parties, including the biggest opposition group led by former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, identified seven ways the government may be manipulating the vote.

“The seven ways that are posing a real threat of falsification,” Anatoliy Hrytsenko, the leader of the Civic Position party, said.

The appeal was submitted to the president of the European Commission, as well as the president of the European Parliament and the president of Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. The letter was also sent to heads of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and other leaders.

The appeal claims the authorities are able to hijack and clone local branches of opposition parties and thus nominate loyal candidates. This can be done as nine out of 15 members of the Central Election Commission, the ultimate authority on declaring election outcome, represent pro-government parties.

“This leans to approval of political, not legal, decisions that pose the threat to vote counting at the elections,” Hrytsenko said.

“It would be wrong to recognize as fair elections that have been carried out in this way,” he said.

The opposition groups have been increasingly appealing to the international community over the past month after attempts to trigger massive domestic protests have failed, while the government has been resorting to pressure on opposition leaders.

International media watchdogs accused the government of President Viktor Yanukovych of restricting freedom of speech and using administrative pressure against journalist.

Attracting attention of the international community has been irritating the government as it may eventually postpone financial aide and other lending programs the government needs to cover budget deficit.

Hours after the opposition parties appealed to the world leaders, the governing coalition issued a statement denying any plans of manipulation, and accused the parties of “discrediting” Ukraine.

“We are convinced that the elections will be conducted in transparent manner, democratically and free,” the coalition said in the statement.

“We call on the opposition to stop discrediting Ukraine in the eyes of the international community,” the statement said. “First of all, this harms the people of Ukraine, and political leaders must remember this.”

The developments come a week after Ukraine’s security service, SBU, started investigating an anonymous phone call in which Tymoshenko had been allegedly warned to stay away from criticizing Yanukovych.

The anonymous caller allegedly told Tymoshenko that she will “cough up blood” if she continues to criticize Yanukovych’s record on democracy and free media among European politicians. (tl/ez)