Ukrainian president accuses rivals of attempting ‘coup d’état,’ may lose governing power

In an escalation of political turmoil in Ukraine, pro-Western Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko today accused the opposition of attempting a “coup d’état” and called for the creation of a new governing coalition. If such a coalition is not formed within 30 days, the president holds the power to dissolve the parliament.

The crisis began when Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko broke her bloc’s involvement with the Yushchenko’s People’s Defense Bloc and voted with with the pro-Russian Party of Regions to weaken presidential powers and increase the power of the prime minister.

Timoshenko and Yushchenko were at one time close allies, forming the coalition that brought about the Orange Revolution in 2005, which installed for the first time a pro-Western government in the former Soviet country. Over the last year, however, the two have come in direct conflict as Timoshenko’s increasingly pro-Russian stances have provoked Yushchenko to accuse her of “high treason and corruption.”

This latest episode in the ongoing drama could lead to a reversal in the Ukraine’s move to the West if Timoshenko’s bloc forms a new governing coalition with the parliament’s pro-Russian elements. Although, Timoshenko’s Bloc Yulii has not yet announced any plans to form such a coalition, one pro-Yushchenko deputy told Le Monde that the fusion of Bloc Yulii and the pro-Russian opposition has “de facto” already begun.

Much of the recent Ukrainian political turmoil can be blamed squarely on the Georgian conflict. It was clear trouble was brewing when, despite Yushchenko’s gestures of solidarity with Georgia, and denunciation of Russia, Timoshenko demostrated she personally sided with Russia in the conflict. And as Ukraine struggled to articulate a tough stance towards Russia — possibly including a termination of Russia’s lease on the Ukrainian port of Sevastopol — the Ukrainian government, which depends on Bloc Yulii for a majority in the parliament, failed to pass any legislation addressing the conflict.

While Western political commentators such as Fareed Zakaria have incorrectly concluded that the Georgian crisis has driven Russia’s neighbors away from them, in Ukraine, it has merely created greater rifts in Ukrainian politics, and may alltogether undo its rapprochement with the West.