KIEV, March 28 – Ukraine’s leading opposition party, Batkivshchyna, will hold an emergency meeting on Friday amid reports it was about to incorporate other opposition groups in a major unification effort ahead of the October election.

The meeting was originally planned to be held in April, but had been suddenly moved to Friday after opposition lawmakers received text messages on their cell phones, Dzerkalo Tyzhnia newspaper reported.

The developments underscore an urgency of the matter and may be suggesting that several opposition groups and leaders have successfully completed months of unification talks.

“I don’t rule out that after the meeting is over, an interesting statement will be released that will also be signed by our political partners concerning the future format of the election campaign,” Serhiy Pashynskiy, a Batkivshchyna lawmaker, said.

The talks have so far focused on whether Arseniy Yatseniuk, a former speaker of Parliament and the leader of the opposition Front for Changes party, can lead Batkivshchyna for the election.

Yulia Tymoshenko, a former prime minister, the founder and the leader of Batkivshchyna, was jailed to seven years in prison in October 2011, and will most likely be unable to participate in the election.

Tymoshenko last week made a statement from the prison urging the opposition groups to unite as soon as possible to have enough time to defeat President Viktor Yanukovych’s Regions Party in October.

Ukraine’s legislation currently does not allow creating blocs of parties running for election, so opposition groups will have to join forces under one party, and that would most likely be Batkivshchyna, the most popular opposition group.

Under a plan that has been discussed, Yatseniuk would have to put his Front for Changes party in a hibernation mode, and persuade his allies to run as part of the Batkivshchyna group.

Yatseniuk and his allies would get 45% of seats in the Batkivshchyna, potentially also incorporating smaller parties, while Tymoshenko’s allies would get 55% of seats, Ukrayinska Pravda reported.

Such breakdown would benefit Yatseniuk, whose party has been steadily showing support from about 8% of respondents, or about a half of Batkivshchyna’s rating.

The move comes as the Regions Party, whose popularity has been shrinking over the past 12 months, has recently announced merger with the Strong Ukraine party, led by Deputy Prime Minister Serhiy Tyhypko.

Tyhypko was appointed to the No. 2 post at the Regions Party, with some analysts predicting that at one point he may replace the party’s leader, Prime Minister Mykola Azarov.

Batkivshchyna’s strong showing at the upcoming election is crucial for the potential release of Tymoshenko from jail that may open her way for running for presidency in 2015.

Should the party get enough votes to form a majority with other parties, it would approve legislation that would change the law under which Tymoshenko has been jailed in the first place, lawmakers said. (tl/ez)