KIEV, Sept. 30 – The Constitutional Court, after seven days of deliberation, is expected to announce a ruling on Friday that may lead to dramatically increased powers for President Viktor Yanukovych.

The ruling will be announced at 10 a.m., according to the court’s press service.

Roman Zvarych, an opposition lawmaker and a former justice minister, citing undisclosed sources said judges have decided to cancel constitutional amendments approved in December 2004 reducing the presidential powers.

“I can state with responsibility that the decision has been taken over the cancellation of the political reform [the amendments],” Zvarych said.

Should the amendments be cancelled, Yanukovych would obtain the right to directly appoint – and fire - all ministers in the Cabinet. Parliament will have the right to approve the nomination for the prime minister, but the president will be able to directly fire the prime minister as well.

The amendments were approved on December 8, 2004 in the middle of the Orange Revolution, a popular uprising against election fraud, as then President Leonid Kuchma has been seeking to reduce powers of the next president, who was likely to be an opposition leader, Viktor Yushchenko.

The amendments, which came into force on January 1, 2006, reduced powers of the president by allowing the coalition – not the president - to nominate the prime minister and most of ministers.

The move weakened Yushchenko’s powers significantly and created permanent tensions between the presidential administration and the Cabinet of Ministers, often leading to constitutional crises over the past four years.

Yanukovych’s Regions Party voted overwhelmingly in December 2004 to approve the amendments, but at the deliberations last week Olena Lukash, his top legal aide, asked the Constitutional Court to “correct the mistake.”

The ruling comes as the 18-strong court has been earlier this month reshuffled by replacing four judges that had opposed Yanukovych’s policies with those that are believed to be loyal to him.

The court is now believed to be overwhelmingly controlled by the Yanukovych administration that opens the possibility for the ruling to increase the presidential powers, analysts said.

The reshuffle made the court “more and more manipulative,” Taras Chornovil, a lawmakers and a former ally of Yanukovych, said. (nr/ez)