KIEV, Feb. 22 – Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko on Monday launched a desperate attempt to stay in power despite declared plans by President-elect Viktor Yanukovych to reshuffle the government and to create a new coalition.

The Tymoshenko group insisted on an emergency session of Parliament for holding a no-confidence vote in the government on Wednesday, a day before Yanukovych’s scheduled inauguration.

Since talks led by Yanukovych’s Regions Party over the new coalition are not over yet, the government would most likely survive the vote, de-facto giving Tymoshenko 12-month immunity from dismissal.

“The most dangerous thing today is undefined status of the government,” Oleksandr Turchynov, the first deputy prime minister, said in a statement. “That’s why the Tymoshenko Bloc is insisting on the immediate consideration of this issue.”

“Those voting for this motion must understand consequences that they are assuming,” Turchynov said.

Andriy Kozhemiakin, a senior Tymoshenko group lawmaker, said the Regions Party has been resisting the plans of holding the emergency session on Wednesday.

“They understand that they don’t have votes for the dismissal of the government, and will not have in the near future,” Kozhemiakin said.

Meanwhile, Tymoshenko, in a televised address to the nation on Monday, refused to concede the defeat to at the February 7 presidential election, and said Yanukovych’s presidency will be “short-lived.”

“As millions of Ukrainians, I state that Yanukovych is not our president,” Tymoshenko said. “The president that has come to power through cheating will not stay for long.”

“During this short time we will have to reliably protect everything that is key and valuable for us, for our state,” Tymoshenko said.

Tymoshenko said she begins talks with lawmakers from Our Ukraine-People’s Self-defense and the group led by Parliamentary Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn, the two remaining members of the Tymoshenko-led coalition, in order to consolidate.

“The danger is threatening the independence of Ukraine,” Tymoshenko said. “There is only one solution that still remains: it’s the consolidation of all democratic, state-minded forces, all thinking lawmakers from Our Ukraine-People’s Self-defense, the Lytvyn Bloc and the Tymoshenko Bloc.”

“We have to finally put aside all disputes and to create a powerful team in Parliament that will not allow establishing anti-Ukrainian dictatorship,” she said.

“I publically propose exactly this way and have already started the negotiation process,” Tymoshenko said.

The developments come two days after Tymoshenko has dropped her lawsuit with the High Administrative Court disputing the presidential election as fraudulent.

The withdrawal of the lawsuit without its consideration by the court allows room for Tymoshenko to question legitimacy of Yanukovych’s victory in the future.

Most international observers ruled that the Ukrainian election was free and fair, and many world leaders, including U.S. President Barack Obama, called Yanukovych to congratulate him with the victory. (tl/ez)