KIEV, Nov. 29 – Protesting small business owners on Monday demanded the government be dismissed for drafting the controversial tax legislation that has triggered massive protest over the past seven days.

The new demand complements two others – a presidential veto of the legislation and dissolution of Parliament - as the protest action becomes increasingly political.

“Here are the three demands: vetoing the Tax Code, dissolution of Parliament and the dismissal of the government,” Serhiy Dorotych, the leader of the Union for Protection of Entrepreneurs, told TVi television.

The new demands come as the protesters rejected a request for a meeting with the government on Monday aimed at finding a compromise over the tax legislation.

The developments now suggest that a confrontation is possible within days unless President Viktor Yanukovych vetoes the Tax Code.

Yanukovych will be in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Tuesday and Wednesday, and planned to take his action on the Tax Code on Thursday. After a meeting with the protesters on Saturday, Yanukovych said that the “probability of the veto is high.”

The protest began on Nov. 22 as a spontaneous reaction to the Tax Code, which was approved by Parliament on Nov. 18. The tax legislation is reducing taxes on big corporations, but increases pressure on small businesses.