KIEV, June 6 – Tensions were building up within Ukraine’s governing coalition over the weekend, with Parliamentary Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn alleging that President Viktor Yanukovych’s Regions Party has been seeking to increase its grip on power.

Lytvyn, whose party has recently accused the Regions Party of aggressively recruiting its activists throughout Ukraine, said that Regions is seeking to prepare for early parliamentary elections in the spring.

“A certain political group, while being at the peak of its success, is trying to seize everything so that they can line up everybody they way they want,” Lytvyn said in a statement.