KIEV, Sept. 7 – President Viktor Yanukovych’s coalition on Tuesday approved legislation that effectively allows him to appoint the head of the Kiev city government. It also disbands city district councils, canceling elections in these constituencies.

The reshaping of the political landscape in the capital of Kiev - the stronghold of opposition to Yanukovych - comes less than two months before the elections were due.

“After this, any elections in Kiev have no sense anymore,” Anatoliy Hrytsenko, a former defense minister and the leader of an opposition party, said in his blog.

The legislation shifts most of power in the city towards the local state administration whose chief will now be appointed by the president.

A most popular elected official, or the mayor, has been so far combining the post with the position as the head of the Kiev state administration. The mayor, according to the legislation, will now focus on duties as the speaker of the Kiev city council and will have drastically weakened powers.