KIEV, Feb. 12 – Ukraine’s political crisis appeared set to deepen after opposition groups on Tuesday voiced vehement support for two independent lawmakers recently unseated by a controversial court ruling.

Arseniy Yatseniuk, the leader of Batkivshchyna, said the party continues to view the two as legitimately elected lawmakers despite the ruling.

Pavlo Baloha and Oleksandr Dombrovskiy, the independent lawmakers who refused to join the Regions Party after October 28, 2012 elections, had been unseated in a Friday ruling by the High Administrative Court.

The ruling, which cites alleged election irregularities, violates legislation that stipulates elections can be contested no later than five days after the vote.

“The opposition categorically states that Pavlo Baloha and Oleksandr Dombrovskiy are legitimate and authorized lawmakers and the decision of the High Administrative Court has not legal consequences,” Yatseniuk said.

Parliamentary Speaker Volodymyr Rybak said Monday the Constitutional Court must get involved to declare whether the lawmakers can continue to serve in Parliament.

But Yatseniuk said the opposition groups do not trust the Constitutional Court, which made a controversial ruling on October 2010 to change the country’s constitution overnight by strengthening powers of President Viktor Yanukovych.

“Any attempts by the speaker to appeal to the unconstitutional Constitutional Court is nothing more than an attempt to legalize the ruling on the unlawful stripping of status,” Yatseniuk said.

The dispute over the two lawmakers may have major implications concerning the future work of Parliament.

If Baloha and Dombrovskiy lose their seats this will intimidate other independent lawmakers and force them to be more cooperative with the Regions Party, further strengthening Yanukovych’s clout.

This may also create conditions that may lead to opposition lawmakers losing seats and weakening their resistance to Yanukovych.

The change would be timely for Yanukovych, who lost control over Parliament after the October elections, while opposition parties strengthening their presence.

Every vote is currently essentially decided by 40 or so independent lawmakers.

Yuriy Karmazin, a former lawmaker who filed lawsuits that had led to the unseating of Baloha and Dombrovskiy, said earlier this week that more lawsuits will shortly follow, targeting other election districts across the country. (tl/ez)