KIEV, Feb. 5 – Opposition groups, flexing their political muscle, on Tuesday blocked the work of Parliament in a standoff with the ruling Regions Party, signaling major hurdles for the government in getting its legislation approved.

The standoff was set to continue on Wednesday as opposition lawmakers vowed to stay inside Parliament’s session hall through the night to prevent a potential takeover by the Regions Party.

The developments spell out major problems for President Viktor Yanukovych and his government, which needs urgent economic and financial legislation approved to help the economy avert recession.

The opposition groups are angry and seek to stop a controversial practice of making multiple votes by lawmakers for their absent colleagues.

The practice has been repeatedly used over the past two months by the Regions Party, which underscores their lack of majority in Parliament.

“The house of cards of the Regions Party has fallen apart because they do not have majority in Parliament,” Arseniy Yatseniuk, the leader of the opposition Batkivshchyna party, said. “This is the only reason why the speaker of Parliament refuses to introduce the system of personal vote.”

“Every lawmaker has to come to work and to vote independently for the legislation that the Regions Party wants to approve, not to trade cards,” Yatseniuk said.

The opposition groups asked Yanukovych to veto bills approved by Parliament over the past two months when multiple voting has been exposed.

Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and other key appointments were made with Regions Party lawmakers resorting to making multiple votes, mostly for lawmakers that were absent that day in Parliament.

“Our demand is clear and unambiguous,” Yatseniuk said. “It’s not an ultimatum from the opposition, but the demand of the constitution and of the Ukrainian people,”

Volodymyr Matveyenko, a senior member of the Regions Party, said that the party was ready for compromises, but said the work of Parliament must be unblocked to make any progress.

“How can we go ahead if the opposition has chosen a way of blocking the work?” Makeyenko said. “This is a mutual responsibility.”

Volodymyr Rybak, the speaker of Parliament, said experts need to inspect the current computerized voting system before it can be reconfigured to accept individual voting.

“We have to work with the National Academy of Sciences, this is an issue for the future,” Rybak said.

The opposition groups recently called for resignation of Rybak for his refusal to call an emergency session of Parliament at which the opposition groups planned to grill Yanukovych’s top law enforcement officials.

“Let them vote for my resignation,” Rybak said. “I will accept any decision.” (tl/ez)