KIEV, June 4 – Ukraine rapidly drifted towards major political turmoil Thursday, with President Viktor Yushchenko calling on the people to stand up against controversial constitutional amendments prepared by his opponents.

He said the amendments, quietly agreed by Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and opposition Regions Party leader Viktor Yanukovych, seek to restrict elections and liberties, who apparently hope to split power for 20 years.

“This is a constitutional coup, an attempt to assassinate the Ukrainian democracy,” Yushchenko said in an address to the nation aired by Studio 1+1 television Thursday night.

“I am warning you - stand up next to the president, elbow to elbow, we are the millions,” Yushchenko said. “We will not let these swindlers do with the country what they have been dictated to do.”

Yushchenko’s appeal to the nation shows that his earlier attempts to dissuade Yanukovych against supporting the controversial amendments had failed.

The developments suggest Ukraine may plunge into its worst political turmoil since November 2004, when election fraud by the administration of former President Leonid Kuchma had triggered a popular uprising, known as the Orange Revolution.

The Tymoshenko-Yanukovych amendments seek to let current lawmakers elect the next president – widely expected to be Yanukovych – in Parliament, scrapping a popular vote only months before it was due.

The same amendments extend duties of the current lawmakers by two years – through the spring of 2014 – suggesting there will be no general elections in the meantime.

The cancelled elections mean that Tymoshenko will be able to keep the post for the next five years, but the amendments also seek to introduce a bizarre political system that may extend her stay indefinitely.

The amendments aim to introduce a two-party system, according to which only two most popular groups will be allowed to enter Parliament, while all smaller parties will be effectively cut off from legislature.

The authorities will also be able to shut down media outlets for “disinformation of the society,” according to a draft constitution obtained and published by Dzerkalo Tyzhnia newspaper on Thursday.

Police – as opposed to prosecutors – and a number of other law enforcement agencies will be allowed to go to court to seek jail sentences for their suspects, according to the amendments.

Tymoshenko and Yanukovych have been keeping silence on their talks and the amendments discussed. Tymoshenko has been avoiding press conferences for weeks, while Yanukovych had last week denied the talks had been underway.

But on Thursday, Yanukovych and Tymoshenko have been meeting with Parliamentary Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn seeking to secure his support for the amendments, people familiar with the situation said. Lytvyn has been earlier refusing to join the Tymoshenko-Yanukovych coalition. (tl/ez)