KIEV, May 16 – Viktor Baloha, a powerful chief of staff at the office of President Viktor Yushchenko, has submitted his resignation, a move that may signal a major change in the president’s domestic policy.

Baloha told Ukrayinska Prabda online newspaper on Saturday that he had submitted the resignation last month and now Yushchenko will have to decide whether to accept it.

“About a month ago I had submitted to President Viktor Yushchenko my resignation letter,” Baloha said. “Now, the president has to approve his decision.”

Yushchenko appointed Baloha to the post in September 2006, reacting to an attack from then-Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych who had been aggressively seizing more powers from the presidential office by using loopholes in the constitution.

Baloha proved to be a skillful crisis manager who helped to fend off the attack by pushing through decision to dismiss Parliament and to hold early parliamentary election in 2007 that had removed Yanukovych from office.

Baloha used the same aggressive tactic against Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and has been apparently persuading Yushchenko recently to again dismiss Parliament and to call early election.

Baloha’s plan, people familiar with the situation said, was to hold the early election this year and - together with Yushchenko - to get elected to Parliament following simultaneous presidential and parliamentary elections.

Yushchenko apparently did not accept the plan, people familiar with the situation said, forcing Baloha to submit the resignation.

The prospect of the early parliamentary election faded away earlier this month after the Regions Party, led by Yanukovych, had dismissed the option and called on letting Tymoshenko run the government through the next presidential election.

Andriy Stryzhak, the head of the Constitutional Court, on Sunday said that Yushchenko had no legitimate reason to dismiss Parliament, rejected comments from some officials at the presidential office that such reason had existed.

“As of today, there are no reasons,” Stryzhak said in an interview with ICTV television.

Some presidential advisors have been suggesting Yushchenko to remove Baloha in order to try to improve his own rating, the people said. Baloha’s frequent clashes with Tymoshenko are thought to have caused disapproval among some voters, contributing to Yushchenko’s low popularity, the people said.

As a further sign that Yushchenko may have selected this option, Our Ukraine, a party that Yushchenko had created, on Saturday appointed Vira Ulianchenko, the governor of the Kiev region and one of Yushchenko’s closest allies, as the party leader.

Ulianchenko is thought to have been frequently clashing with Baloha, but on the other hand had managed to maintain much better relations with Tymoshenko, the people said.

Ulianchenko is also known to have close contacts with some of the country’s richest people and is thought to be able to revive financing for Out Ukraine, a key point for making the party competitive at the next parliamentary election.

“I would call the today’s event as a renewal of effective public work of the party,” Yushchenko, who personally nominated Ulianchenko, said after Our Ukraine meeting on Saturday. “I believe what has happened is the renaissance of Our Ukraine.”

“It was natural to appoint the leadership that has belief in our goals and capable of solving tens of issues that hadn’t been solved before,” Yushchenko said. “Obviously, this process needs fresh blood.” (tl/ez)