KIEV, March 11 – Vasyl Onopenko, the head of the Supreme Court, the only authority not yet fully controlled by loyalists of President Viktor Yanukovych, survived a no-confidence vote on Friday.

Only 17 judges at the 49-member court voted for the dismissal of Onopenko. The motion was signed by 19 judges a week ago.

The development is the first serious setback for Yanukovych, who has so far managed over the past 12 months to extend his control to the Cabinet, Parliament, the Constitutional Court and the regional legal system.

“I am happy that the Supreme Court is there. It has always been and it will continue to be,” Onopenko said after the vote. “You have seen that the Supreme Court is a healthy organism.”

The position of the head of the Supreme Court may become instrumental in the battle for Parliament in October 2012, and perhaps at the next presidential election in March 2015.

It was the Supreme Court that had cancelled in December 2004 the controversial presidential election upholding the allegation that the election had been attempted to be stolen by Yanukovych, then the prime minister.

The court ordered the re-run of the second round of the election at which opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko had defeated Yanukovych to become the president in January 2005 through February 2010.

After the election of Yanukovych to the presidency in February 2010 all bodies of the government and legal authorities in Ukraine had been reshuffled to appoint Yanukovch loyalists.

The motion to dismiss Onopenko came a week after reports indicated that Yanukovych has been seeking to mount an attack against the head of the Supreme Court.

Some judges of the court have been apparently invited to the presidential administration where they had been asked to move against Onopenko, a source at the court told Kommersant newspaper.

Andriy Portnov, a deputy chief of staff at the Yanukovych administration and the official who is in charge of drafting legislation to reform the legal system, denied any pressure on the judges.

Opposition lawmakers said Yanukovych has been seeking to replace Onopenko with a more loyal figure - most likely with Serhiy Kivalov - to the post.

Onopenko slammed at those who had secretly applied the pressure on the judges.

“Whoever is behind the curtain, I believe this is unacceptable to put any kind of pressure on the Supreme Court,” Onopenko said. (tl/ez)