KIEV, April 8 – The Constitutional Court on Thursday announced its anticipated ruling allowing individual opposition lawmakers to join a governing coalition, leading to an immediate outcry from opposition groups.

In what could become a legal precedent, the court has essentially reversed its previous ruling on the matter issued in 2008, de-facto allowing President Viktor Yanukovych to avoid calling an early parliamentary election.

The ruling allows Yanukovych’s Regions Party, the Communist Party and the Volodymyr Lytvyn Bloc – a grouping which does not have a majority of seats in Parliament, but has assembled a coalition by recruiting individual opposition lawmakers.

The constitution directly stipulates the governing coalition must be created only by groups whose total number of lawmakers represents the majority in Parliament.

“Today, the Constitutional Court has committed a crime,” Yulia Tymoshenko, a former prime minister and the leader of the biggest opposition group in Parliament, said.

“Its ruling shows that this body, which must be guarding the constitution, is ready to implement any political order from the government and can be easily corrupted,” she said.

Tymoshenko said last week that each hesitating judges had been offered $1 million to support the ruling, a charge that Yanukovych had denied.

This is the second extremely controversial ruling by the Constitutional Court since 2003, when its judges – apparently under pressure from then President Leonid Kuchma – have allowed him to run for the presidency for the third time, despite serving two consecutive terms.

The constitution does not let the president run for the presidency again after serving two consecutive terms in office. Kuchma, under pressure from opposition, opted against running for the third term in 2004.

Yanukovych on Thursday indicated that he was happy with the ruling.

“I accept the ruling that there is,” Yanukovych said. “We must learn to live according to law.”

The government has so far recruited 16 opposition lawmakers to join the governing coalition, which currently numbers 235 lawmakers. Parliamentary Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn said the coalition will shortly increase to 260 lawmakers.

It is easy for the government to recruit opposition lawmakers as many have business interests. Since the government controls regulating authorities it can make life more difficult - or easier - for any particular company, thus forcing respective lawmakers to join the coalition.

The ruling, however, may lead to far reaching consequences that can trigger major political instability in the future as it essentially disregards the will of the people at the election, analysts said.

“The coalition is a clear distortion, by 180 degrees, of results of the latest parliamentary election,” Oleksandr Paliy, a Kiev-based political scientist, said. “It is nothing else but the usurpation of power.”

“Illegitimate government will push the society towards violence,” Paliy said. “Is this what initiators of the coalition have wanted?” (tl/ez)