A pro-presidential bloc began collecting signatures earlier Monday in support of the dismissal of Supreme Rada Speaker Oleksandr Moroz, who enacted a law curbing presidential powers. The law came into force despite being vetoed twice by the president.
"Obviously, certain political forces are not interested in stability and societal accord, and are using all available methods and tools [to thwart them]," Viktor Yanukovych said. "Now, as you know, appeals are being made to dismiss Moroz. I would like to assure those involved in the process that this is not going to happen."
Moroz signed the law allowing the parliamentary majority to nominate candidates for the posts of prime minister, and defense and foreign ministers, which was previously the president's prerogative. The law came into force Friday.
Under Ukrainian law, the parliamentary speaker can sign a bill into law, if approved by two-thirds of votes in parliament, if the president fails to do so within a month.
Ukraine's outspoken former prime minister, Yulia Tymoshenko, said earlier her eponymous opposition bloc would back a motion to sack Moroz, who heads the Socialist Party that abandoned a Tymoshenko-led alliance for a pro-Russian coalition led by Yanukovych in July.
"We will be politically delighted to vote for Moroz's removal from the post of speaker," said Tymoshenko, a key figure in the 2004 'orange revolution' that brought to power Western-leaning President Viktor Yushchenko.
But Tymoshenko helped parliament override the Cabinet bill the first time around, on January 12, when her bloc joined the parliamentary majority supporting Yanukovych. On January 18, Yushchenko again refused to sign the law, saying the Supreme Rada had made new changes to the document.
Yushchenko has repeatedly said the law runs counter to the national unity pact political leaders signed in August in a bid to end a protracted political crisis in the ex-Soviet state following the March parliamentary elections.
But Yanukovych brushed aside the accusations Monday: "The Cabinet and parliament have maintained their cooperation. A cooperation mechanism is in place. The coalition is very strong at the moment."
He also said the coalition would ignore what he called attempts at "intimidation."
Yanukovych has been steadily consolidating his power in the ongoing struggle between the pro-presidential and pro-premier factions over the past six months.
The Supreme Rada has sacked several president-appointed ministers, including Foreign Minister Borys Tarasyuk last week, a key presidential ally who actively promoted pro-Western policies.
