KIEV, Oct. 1 – Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said Wednesday her group would vote to cancel a number of controversial bills that triggered the collapse of her pro-Western coalition last month.

Tymoshenko said she has agreed to accept the demand from President Viktor Yushcheko’s Our Ukraine-People’s Self-defense to cancel the bills cutting presidential powers to reestablish the coalition and to avoid early election.

“Today we said that we accept the ultimatum for the sake of Ukraine,” Tymoshenko said in an interview with Channel 5. “This would eliminate the reason for throwing the country into an early election, which would later shift to a presidential election.”

“We don’t agree with this ultimatum, but we will implement it,” she said.

The comment shows is a complete turnaround in the position of Tymoshenko, who has last month joined forces with pro-Russian opposition groups, the Regions Party and the Communist Party, to attack Yushchenko by approving the bills cutting his powers.

The attack forced Yushchenko to respond by pulling his Our Ukraine-People’s Self-defense from the coalition, triggering a 30-day countdown for the early election unless Tymoshenko forms a new coalition.

Tymoshenko has been seriously considering the creation of the coalition with the Regions Party and people familiar with the situation said the groups had even reached a preliminary power sharing deal.

But the talks later stumbled after Viktor Yanukovych had demanded the post of the prime minister in the new coalition, something that Tymoshenko had not been ready to accept.

The final turnaround in Tymoshenko’s position took place after the release of latest opinion polls showing that Tymoshenko’s public support has been declining, apparently in reaction to the emerging alliance with the Regions.

Tymoshenko’s acceptance of the ultimatum from Our Ukraine-People’s Self-defense is a setback for the prime minister, suggesting that her plan to quickly undermine Yushchenko’s powers had collapsed.

But the re-creation of the coalition with Our Ukraine-People’s Self-defense, perhaps with the addition of the centrist group led by former Parliamentary Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn, would allow Tymoshenko to keep the post of the prime minister for the time being.

The developments come as Yushchenko has again demanded that Tymoshenko must cancel the bills limiting presidential authority that he believes are illegal and come against the constitution.

“The statement made by the prime minister today shows that this mistake may be fixed,” Yushchenko said in an interview with Dagens Nyheter, a Swedish newspaper, in comments released by the presidential press office.

“If those are sincere intentions, she can demonstrate them at the session of Parliament tomorrow and to denounce those decisions that are not constitutional and that have nothing to do with democracy,” Yushchenko said. (tl/ez)