KIEV, July 8 – Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko’s lawmakers blocked the podium in Parliament on Tuesday amid growing speculation that the opposition Regions Party has collected enough support to approve a no-confidence vote in the government.

The lawmakers argued their decision to block the podium, which makes holding a session of Parliament impossible, as a pressure on legislation to approve amendments to the 2008 budget.

The developments underscore a major rise of tensions in Parliament as growing number of lawmakers has been apparently critical towards Tymoshenko’s populist policy that had produced the highest inflation in Europe.

“The lawmakers are holding the tribune on the podium and ministers are holding their seats because it’s time to go soon,” Mykhaylo Chechetov, a senior member of the Regions Party, said.

“Maybe this is a good government, but not for this country,” Chechetov said. “Don’t torture the country, just go.”

Arseniy Yatseniuk, the speaker of Parliament, who opposes the idea of holding no-confidence vote, was forced to close the session on Tuesday.

After two lawmakers have quit the pro-government coalition last month, Tymoshenko is now thought to control 225 seats on the 450-seat Parliament.

A motion to dismiss the government requires support of at least 226 lawmakers, suggesting there may be a group of coalition lawmakers that may join forces with the Regions to topple the government.

“We are a serious political force and we would not start this complicated combination unless we were confident that it would be successfully completed,” Chechetov said.

The opposition groups have been growing unhappy with Tymoshenko’s populist policy that has resulted in Ukraine recording one of the highest rates of inflation in the world.

But the opposition group was also unhappy as Tymoshenko has been attacking business interests of Rinat Akhmetov, the wealthiest Ukrainian businessman and the key sponsor of the Regions Party.

Ukraine’s consumer prices rose 29.3% between June and June 2007, slowing down from 31.1% increase in May vs. May 2007, according to the State Statistics Committee.

This is the first time over the past six months that Ukraine’s annual inflation has actually started to slow down, although still remaining at the highest level in Europe.

The government forecast inflation at 15.9% in 2008, but consumer prices already hit 15.5% in January through June, suggesting the inflation will most likely exceed the forecast. (tl/ez)