KIEV, Oct. 2 – Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko’s group on Thursday joined forces with Our Ukraine-People’s Self-defense in a vote canceling controversial bills designed to weaken presidential power and which caused the collapse of the coalition last month.

President Viktor Yushchenko, however, was not impressed by the vote. He accused Tymoshenko of “political charlatanism,” an apparent reference to her dramatic switch of positions over the past 30 days.

The vote comes a day after Tymoshenko agreed to accept demands for the cancellation from Yushchenko’s Our Ukraine-People’s Self-defense, apparently opening the way for the creation of a new coalition between the two and days before Yushchenko would have obtained power to dismiss Parliament and call early elections, a scenario that would almost certainly lead to Tymoshenko losing her post.

“We implemented our promises and confirmed our readiness for the [coalition] talks,” Andriy Portnov, a close Tymoshenko ally, said.

The vote shows that Tymoshenko, who has been trying to cut Yushchenko’s powers dramatically, has completely changed her position as deadline looms for the dismissal of Parliament.

Tymoshenko approved the controversial bills in alliance with pro-Russian groups, the Regions Party and the Communist Party, and has been seeking to create a “stabilization” coalition with the Regions Party to avoid the early election.

But she later reversed and entered talks with Our Ukraine-People’s Self-defense after opinion polls showed she has been losing popular support in the alliance with the Regions.

Yushchenko said he had no confidence in Tymoshenko, who had completely changed her position in the course of 30 days.

“After the 30 days are gone and an extramarital affair is over, or not, a new plotline is being formed,” Yushchenko said speaking in Lviv. “We see that the [controversial] decisions are cancelled so we should have satisfaction. But we have no confidence in statements like that.”

There was no confidence that the same bills, undermining presidential powers, would not again be approved in 10 days, adding that he was “sick of such policy.”

Yushchenko said he will dismiss Parliament unless the new coalition is formed in due course.

“I am in favor of consultations, I am in favor of dialogs, and I will give political groups an opportunity to hold this dialog,” Yushchenko said. “But if no announcement [of the new coalition] is made by the deadline, I will exercise the right to dismiss Parliament.”

Some political analysts said the deadline for the creation of the coalition will come on Thursday, exactly 30 days after Our Ukraine-People’s Self-defense had announced decision to quit the coalition.

But Tymoshenko said she thought the groups have another 10 days, as she has been counting the 30-day period after the collapse of the coalition had been officially announced in Parliament.

“I am almost sure that tomorrow, according to the constitution and Ukrainian laws, is not the last day,” Tymoshenko said speaking in Moscow. “In other words, we have at least 10 more days.”

“I am sure that we can find mutual understanding,” Tymoshenko said. (jp/ez)