TOKYO, March 26 – Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, whose government been losing public support in the wake of Ukraine’s severe economic crisis, suggested on Thursday that she may support new constitutional amendments that further reduce presidential powers.

The amendments, which can be only approved if the Tymoshenko Bloc joins forces with the opposition Regions Party, would drastically reduce presidential authority, but may also change the way the president is elected.

“The Ukrainian society and the Ukrainian politics have already made a step away from the presidential form of government towards the parliamentary system, and perhaps, we have to go this way to finish the transition,” Tymoshenko told Reuters in Tokyo.

President Viktor Yushchenko opposes the idea of amending the constitution by forces of only two political groups without relying on broad support from other political groups.

If Tymoshenko and the Regions push their way through, this may trigger political clashes in the country that is going through its worst economic crisis since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Ukraine had a presidential form of government up through the end of December 2005. But in line with controversial constitutional changes, pushed through by then-President Leonid Kuchma in December 2004, the powers of the president were reduced and powers of the prime minister were increased on January 1, 2006.

The changes eventually misbalanced the country’s political system, leaving the president and the prime minister scrambling for ultimate control over the country’s foreign and domestic policies. This led to clashes between President Viktor Yushchenko and then Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych in early 2007, and now between Yushchenko and Tymoshenko.

Tymoshenko, who has been until recently seen as the favorite candidate for winning the presidential vote in January 2010, has apparently so far preferred strengthening presidential powers as a way of resolving the deadlock.

But the comments on Thursday signal a possible change of her position towards backing the parliamentary system of government, which will most likely change the way the president is elected: to parliamentary vote from nation-wide vote.

Tymoshenko Bloc and the Regions Party have been already holding talks, as recently as in September and December, over jointly amending the constitution. The groups agreed 90% of the amendments, but stumbled over how to elect the new president, according to Andriy Kliuyev, a senior member of the Regions Party who had been holding the talks.

The Regions Party has been insisting on the parliamentary vote, while Tymoshenko has been insisting on the nation-wide vote, people familiar with the discussions said.

Now the escalating economic crisis, with industrial output decline and massive layoffs throughout the country, Tymoshenko’s rating has been falling rapidly, reducing her chances of winning the nation-wide vote.

Support for the Tymoshenko Bloc in the Ternopil region, once its stronghold, fell to 8%, according to results of the local election on March 15. Tymoshenko enjoyed support of up to 55% in the same region 12 months ago.

With Tymoshenko’s support dwindling, ratings of other candidates, such as Arseniy Yatseniuk, a former speaker of Parliament, have been growing, analysts said.

One of recent opinion polls showed that Yatseniuk, currently the No. 3 most popular politician, would defeat both, Tymoshenko and Yanukovych, the leader of the Regions Party, if he faces one of them in the runoff.

The continued rise of Yatseniuk becomes a threat for both, Tymoshenko and Yanukovych, and that may increase pressure on both to amend the constitution before the election in January 2010, analysts said.

“Why would they let the third one in if everything could be split between the two,” Yuriy Yakimenko, a political analyst with Razumkov Center, a Kiev-based think tank, said. (tl/ez)