KIEV, March 4 – Political tensions rose in Parliament on Thursday after President Viktor Yanukovych’s Regions Party suggested controversial legislation allowing individual lawmakers, in addition to groups, to join a governing coalition.

The legislation immediately sparked criticism from across the political spectrum as it clashes with the constitution, which lets only groups join the coalitions.

The development suggests the Regions Party may have been seeking to build a majority in Parliament without making a political deal with Our Ukraine-People’s Self-defense, a pro-Western group.

In this case, the Regions Party would primarily rely on the Communist Party and the group led by Parliamentary Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn for the core of the coalition.

But since these groups do not control the majority, they would also rely on defectors from two remaining groups, including the group led by former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.

“This is a coup,” Serhiy Sobolev, a senior member of the Tymoshenko group, said at a press conference. “This is a step towards usurpation of power.”

“What we’ve gotten today is an illegal anti-constitutional way, the way of taking Ukraine in prison by anti-people forces: the Communists, the Regions and the traitors,” he said.

Vira Ulianchenko, the head of Our Ukraine, who has suggested nominating former President Viktor Yushchenko as the next prime minister, called the legislation “blackmail.”

“It’s not worth beginning with unconstitutional steps, Ulianchenko said. “It’s very important for the coalition to be legitimate. It’s extremely important for the prime minister to be legitimate.”

The legislation was approved in the first reading by 229 lawmakers in the 450-seat Parliament, by mainly the Regions Party, the Communist Party and the Lytvyn Bloc, with an addition of individual lawmakers.

The legislation would make it simpler for Yanukovych to create the new coalition by avoiding political talks – and concessions – to Our Ukraine-People’s Self-defense.

But there are drawbacks too because such coalition will not be stable, indicating the new government may continue to have problems the same way that the government of Tymoshenko did.

“The [Tymoshenko] government was the most ineffective ever among all governments of Ukraine,” Serhiy Tyhypko who Yanukovych as had earlier named as a possible prime minister, but who had apparently been later dropped from the list.

“But we may again get the government of populists, not reformers,” Tyhypko said.

Another potential nomination for the prime minister, Arseniy Yatseniuk, said the suggested legislation would undermine legitimacy of the new government.

“There will be no coalition of dead souls,” Yatseniuk said. “There will be either coalition of groups exclusively trough constitutional way, or there will be early parliamentary election.” (tl/ez)