KIEV, July 11 – The Constitutional Court, spending only two days on deliberations, on Thursday will announce a ruling that may make it much easier for the ruling party to replace the speaker of Parliament.

The court, which usually takes at least a month to make a ruling, was asked earlier this week to decide on the law that regulates election and dismissal of the speaker.

The developments come as the ruling Regions Party has become increasingly unhappy with Parliamentary Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn, who last week refused to sign controversial language legislation.

The legislation split Ukraine and triggered a political crisis in the country with Lytvyn submitting his resignation, and protesters clashing with riot police last week, forcing President Viktor Yanukovych to cancel his long-planned annual press conference.

Parliament on Friday refused to accept the resignation, but Lytvyn’s refusal to sign the language bill effectively prevents it from reaching the office of Yanukovych, de-facto postponing the legislation.

Under current regulations approved by Parliament, the Regions Party would not unable to replace Lytvyn without the support of opposition groups. Also, it would be unable to appoint a new speaker, because again, it would require cooperation from the opposition groups.

Lytvyn, in a statement on Wednesday, said that the Constitutional Court has no jurisdiction to decide on a matter that is regulated by Parliament.

The Constitutional Court “has no right to intervene into political and internal organizational issues of Parliament’s operation,” Lytvyn said in the statement.

Lytvyn has become a key political figure whose actions now may either calm the escalating political crisis or trigger a major deterioration that could potentially split Ukraine.

Lytvyn called for a conciliatory meeting between political groups and language experts to find a compromise. He said that Parliament had committed “immense violations” in approving the bill.

The introduction of the language legislation is believed to benefit Yanukovych’s Regions Party ahead of October parliamentary elections by energizing its supporters.

But the bill may cause grave problems in the long term by splitting the country with predominantly Ukrainian language speaking western and central regions and mostly Russian speaking people in the eastern and southern regions.

The opposition groups, which organized a spontaneous rally and hunger strike in front of the Ukraine House in downtown Kiev, vowed to continue the protest. (tl/ez)