KIEV, Dec. 9 – Volodymyr Lytvyn was elected the speaker of Parliament on Tuesday by a surprise alliance of parties led by Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and joined by the Communist Party, a vehemently pro-Russian group.

The vote, which will probably help Tymoshenko to stay as the prime minister, is a setback for President Viktor Yushchenko, who has been pushing hard to nominate loyalist lawmaker Ivan Pliushch as the speaker.

In a further blow for Yushchenko, Our Ukraine-People’s Self-defense group has split with at least 40 lawmakers apparently backing a coalition with Tymoshenko and the Lytvyn group.

The coalition, rejected by 32 Our Ukraine lawmakers that are loyal to Yushchenko, will effectively control only 214 seats in the 450-seat Parliament, falling short of 226 votes needed to approve legislation.

The vote to approve Lytvyn was backed by 244 lawmakers, including 154 votes by the Tymoshenko Bloc, 40 votes by Our Ukraine-People’s Self-defense, 27 votes by the Communists and 20 votes by the Lytvyn Bloc and 3 votes by dissident members of the Regions Party, according to results posted by Parliament’s website.

The Tymoshenko-led coalition will probably have to continue to rely on the Communist Party, which stands firmly on pro-Russian platform, and that suggests the coalition may clash with Yushchenko’s pro-Western foreign policy.

“I can hardly imagine how the communists can work with the nationalists,” Oleksandr Yefremov, a senior member of the opposition Regions Party, said. “If they fall short of votes [to control the majority] without the communists, what kind of coalition is that?”

Shortly after taking the seat of the speaker, Lytvyn has announced the creation of the coalition involving the Tymoshenko group, Our Ukraine-People’s Self-defense and the Lytvyn group.

The announcement, however, spread to controversy as Our Ukraine-People’s Self-defense group leader, Viacheslav Kyrylenko, had failed to sign the coalition agreement.

The agreement was apparently signed by Boris Tarasiuk, Kyrylenko’s deputy and the leader of the nationalist party Rukh that has been rapidly drifting towards backing Tymoshenko.

The way the coalition has been created - by splitting Our Ukraine-People’s Self-defense - suggests that it is a hostile move and that Tymoshenko will probably continue to challenge Yushchenko on key policy issues.

Yushchenko may even reject the coalition because it does not have support from 226 lawmakers, a demand the president had earlier this year indicated to be an important condition for the coalition.

“There is no Kyrylenko’s signature on the agreement,” Ksenia Liapina, a member of Our Ukraine who is loyal to Yushchenko, said. “The announcement of the coalition creation is premature.”

Yushchenko, who was visiting Lithuania on Tuesday, did not have immediate comments on the coalition that backs Tymoshenko.

Viktor Baloha, Yushchenko’s powerful chief of staff who has been often helping the president to handle consultations with political groups, was off Tuesday and the past several days, Studio 1+1 television reported. (tl/ez)