KIEV, Dec. 24 – President Viktor Yushchenko on Monday appointed Raisa Bohatyriova, one of the leading figures in the opposition Regions Party, as his top security advisor, underscoring a growing split within the party.

Bohatyriova’s appointment as the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council shows Yushchenko has been seeking to build bridges with the eastern regions of the country, the stronghold of the Regions Party.

The appointment is also seen as a counterbalance to the growing power of Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who has recently pledged to stick to her populist campaign initiatives that may threaten economic stability.

The secretary’s job is to identify issues and to set agenda for the council, whose decisions, after being signed by the president, are mandatory for implementation by the government.

Yushchenko effectively controls the council, which includes key ministers and all the country’s 25 governors, who are appointed by the president.

Meanwhile, the development split the Regions Party, highlighting Bohatyriova as an emerging alternative to former Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, the leader of the Regions Party.

The initial reaction from the Regions Party perfectly underscores the split.

“We positively view this appointment,” Hanna Herman, a member of the Regions Party, said. “This is a very smart and well-balanced choice. [Bohatyriova] can do a lot to overcome the split in the country.”

But five hours later, Yanukovych issued his own statement, denouncing the move and suggesting that Bohatyriova would have to choose between taking the post and remaining in the party.

“We cannot take posts in the state institutions that will be realizing programs that do not go in line with our vision of Ukraine’s perspective,” Yanukovych said in the statement. “This is a principle issue.”

Yanukovych said that Bohatyriova had not yet agreed to take the post, and said the party’s main political body will meet on Tuesday to denounce the appointment.

Herman said she and some other members of the Regions party knew of the appointment in the morning.

This underscores a growing split within the Regions Party between Yanukovych, whose powers are waning, and Rinat Akhmetov, the wealthiest Ukrainian who controls the largest group within the party. Bohatyriova, along with Boris Kolesnikov, is one of the closest allies of Akhmetov.

The rumors of the split between Yanukovych’s hard-line faction in the Regions Party and Akhmetov’s liberal wing, have been circulating for months. The party has been persistently denying any split.

But the party’s defeat at the snap Sept. 30 election and the subsequent replacement of Yanukovych with Tymoshenko as the premier last week widened the split, leaving Yanukovych battling for control over the party.

“This is a good sign,” Yuriy Kliuchkovskiy, a member of Yushchenko’s Our Ukraine-People’s Self-defense, said. “I think that this is a signal to those in the Regions Party that seek constructive cooperation.”

“Ukraine can get united only through such cooperation,” he said. (tl/ez)