KIEV, July 2 – A standoff in Parliament seems likely on Friday after the opposition Regions Party vowed on Thursday to block an emergency session until lawmakers approve a drastic increase in social spending.

Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko requested the emergency session to make crucial appointments to the government, such as the finance minister and the transportation minister.

At the session, lawmakers also planned to lift immunity from Viktor Lozynskiy, a member of the Tymoshenko group, who is suspected of being involved in the recent murder in the Kirovohrad region.

Also, amendments to the constitution were planned to strip all lawmakers of immunity, something that President Viktor Yushchenko has been insisting on for years.

“It’s 100% guarantee that the session will be blocked,” Parliamentary Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn said in an interview with Channel 5 late Thursday.

Oleksandr Lavrynovych, a senior member of the Regions Party, confirmed that the party will block the session, except allowing lawmakers to vote to strip Lozynskiy of immunity.

“Out group will vote for the lifting of immunity,” Lavrynovych said. “But we suggest debating nothing else until bills on social standards are debated. The blocking will continue.”

The suggested bills to increase social spending – during the on-going severe economic crisis and when the government does not have enough revenue – would be impossible to implement, Viacheslav Kyrylenko, a lawmaker at Yushchenko’s Our Ukraine group, said.

Kyrylenko said that the Regions Party should be joined by government ministers to come up with a spending increase than can be supported by the budget before the measures are debated in Parliament.

The standoff in Parliament will underscore its inability to approve legislation and will further make the case for possible dismissal of Parliament and holding an early parliamentary election later this year.

The early parliamentary election is a scenario that may come into play this year to solve Ukraine’s political and economic challenges, Raisa Bohatyriova, the top security aide of Yushchenko, said.

The early election would most likely lead to replacing Tymoshenko, whose government has been running controversial policies that the president has repeatedly blamed for the depth of the economic crisis.

The comment comes days after Yushchenko’s party, Our Ukraine, gave its four renegade lawmakers time until Saturday to quit the coalition backing Tymoshenko, warning that otherwise they will be expelled from the party.

The removal of the four lawmakers may topple the coalition and may effectively trigger the early parliamentary election later this year. (nr/ez)