KIEV, Dec. 27 – President Viktor Yanukovych’s public support for the first time in five years dropped below that of opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, signaling serious trouble for his Regions Party ahead of October 2012 elections.

Tymoshenko’s Batkivshchyna party gained to score 15.8% support among respondents in December, up from 13.8% in October, according to a poll by the Razumkov Center, an independent Kiev-based think tank.

The Regions Party’s support dropped to 13.9% from 16.6% in the same period, the poll showed.

Another opposition party, the Front for Changes, led by former parliamentary speaker Arseniy Yatseniuk, also gained support to 9.6% in December from 8.1% in October, according to the poll.

Tymoshenko’s support rose significantly over the past eight weeks following her losing of appeal of the seven-year prison sentence given to her in October for abuse of power during her time as the prime minister.

Yanukovych’s support plummeted amid worsening economy and growing social tensions as the government has pledged to reduce social spending in an attempt to narrow budget deficit.

“It’s not surprising that the government of Yanukovych and [Prime Minister Mykola] Azarov, which started painful reforms, have lost the support,” Vasyl Kiseliov, a lawmaker from the Regions Party, said in an interview with Channel 5 on Tuesday. “No government [in Ukraine] has ever been able to boost its rating.”

The poll by the Razumkov Center is the latest in a number of surveys that indicate a major reduction in public support for Yanukovych and his Regions Party ahead of the October 2012 elections.

For example, the independent Kiev International Sociology Institute, in a poll released early December, showed Yanukovych’s support dropping to 12% in November from 15% in June, while Tymoshenko’s rating was left little changed at 10%.

Other parties that may be able to score enough votes to enter Parliament in October 2012 include the Communistng Party, with rating of 5.3%, the Vitaliy Klichko’s UDAR party (5.1%), the deputy Prime Minister Serhiy Tyhypko’s Strong Ukraine (3.6%) and the nationalist Svoboda party (3.6%), according to the Razumkov Center.

All other parties would each score less than 2% of the vote, not enough to reach the threshold of 5% needed for entering Parliament after the elections.

Kiseliov said that the government is prepared to continue unpopular measures to cut social spending and to narrow budget deficit, even if the measures suggest the Regions Party’s rating will further decline.

“Yanukovych realizes we are going to lose support as we introduce unpopular reforms, but one cannot do without them,” Kiseliov said. Yanukovych “made a courageous step, the government had been thrown under the tank.”

In order to improve the Regions Party’s prospects at the elections, Yanukovych may consider dismissing Azarov ahead of the vote, some analysts said.

Razumkov Center surveyed respondents between December 9 and December 16 throughout Ukraine with a margin of error at 2.3%. (tl/ez)