KIEV, Sept. 28 – A Kiev court suspended 16 decrees from President Viktor Yushchenko, postponing his latest key appointments, including the appointment of two governors and 14 chiefs of local administrations throughout Ukraine, a lawmaker said Monday.

The Kiev District Administrative Court, which suspended the decrees, is thought to be controlled by Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, Yushchenko’s political rival.

Volodymyr Pylypenko, a lawmaker loyal to Tymoshenko, told Ukrayinska Pravda the court had suspended the appointments of Viktor Vakarash as the governor of the Kiev region and Volodymyr Movchan as the governor of the Kirovohrad region.

The court also suspended appointments of 14 chiefs of district administrations across Ukraine, Pylypenko said.

The government earlier appealed Yushchenko’s decrees complaining that the president had made the appointments without nominations made by the Cabinet of Ministers as required by the constitution.

The Yushchenko office was not available for comments late Monday.

The latest suspension of crucial appointments adds to the management chaos in the country, which is badly hit by the world economic crisis with mounting pressure on the local currency, the hryvnia.

The move de-facto weakens Yushchenko, who pledged to try to win reelection for another five years in office in January. Yushchenko’s rivals are expected to include Tymoshenko, opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych and former Parliamentary Speaker Arseniy Yatseniuk.

The latest attack against Yushchenko comes half a year after Tymoshenko, with the help from Yanukovych, has moved to dismiss two Yushchenko’s strongest allies in the government: Foreign Minister Volodymyr Ohryzko and Defense Minister Yuriy Yekhanurov.

The government currently has a total of five vacancies, after Finance Minister Viktor Pynzenyk resigned in February and Transportation Minister Yosyp Vinskiy stepped down in May.

The post of deputy prime minister for energy is vacant as Tymoshenko has not been able to secure support from parliamentary majority for making the appointments.

Yushchenko last week accused Tymoshenko of initiating massive dismissals in order to reduce opposition to what he called the prime minister’s “populist” economic initiatives. (tl/ez)