KIEV, Oct. 8 – President Viktor Yushchenko on Wednesday dismissed Parliament and called early elections, citing the failure by political groups to form a new majority after the collapse of the coalition last month.

The constitution calls for the election within the next 60 days after the presidential decree is published, which is expected on Thursday, making it likely the election will be scheduled on Nov. 7.

“As of October 8, I have not received any proposal from any political group that would create a coalition signed by 226 lawmakers,” Yushchenko said in a televised address to the nation Wednesday night. “According to the constitution, I declare the termination of the activity of the Supreme Rada and call the early election.”

The move is a major setback for Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who has been desperately seeking to avoid the dismissal in a bid to maintain her post at least through the next presidential election in early 2010. The post is seen by many as the best platform for winning the presidency.

Tymoshenko, who planned to hold a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers on Wednesday, apparently failed to show up in the government office building on Wednesday, easing concerns of possible standoff between the Cabinet and the president.

Oleksandr Turchynov, first deputy prime minister and Tymoshenko’s close ally, chaired the Cabinet meeting that had been closed for the press for the first time in the past 10 months.

But Tymoshenko may actually try to bloc Yushchenko’s decree, as Andriy Portnov, a Tymoshenko loyalist, said the decree was “anti-constitutional.”

“There is a huge gap between the presidential decree and its realization,” Portnov told Ukrayinska Pravda. “It will be very hard for somebody to jump it over.”

“We believe this step is anti-constitutional and has no sense,” Portnov said. “What happened today is 100% provoked by the president. He is behind the collapse of the coalition.”

The coalition collapsed on Sept. 2 after Tymoshenko had unexpectedly joined forces with pro-Russian opposition groups, the Communist Party and the Regions Party, to approve a barrage of secretly prepared bills undermining the authority of the president.

In reaction, Our Ukraine-People’s Self-defense, Yushchenko’s group, voted to withdraw from the coalition, triggering a 30-day countdown for Tymoshenko to come up with a new coalition or to face the election.

People familiar with the situation said Tymoshenko had tentatively agreed on a power sharing deal with the Regions Party to create the “stabilization” coalition, according to which the Regions would get the post of the speaker of Parliament.

But the Regions Party has later rejected the deal, instead seeking to get the post of the prime minister, a concession that Tymoshenko was not ready to make.

The Regions Party, the largest group in Parliament, backed the dismissal of Parliament in hopes that it will collect enough votes to win the right to nominate the prime minister in the next government.

Viktor Yanukovych, the leader of the Regions Party, said the party will focus on several issues, such as “improving the economy, ensuring stability and peace in Ukraine, and conducting such foreign policy that would trigger respect for our country.”

For the election to take place, Parliament would have to amend the 2008 budget to approve spending, the bill that Tymoshenko group will try to oppose.

But the Regions Party indicated on Wednesday that it will back the legislation to make sure that the election is held in a “democratic way.” (tl/ez)