Ukraine saw a political crisis after 11 opposition members, from the parliamentary factions of Our Ukraine and the Yulia Tymoshenko bloc, joined the ruling coalition led by President Viktor Yushchenko's arch rival, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, March 23. Yushchenko did not rule out that parliament could be dissolved.
"We are ready to continue dialogue with the opposition, we propose that the opposition return to the constitutional field, because if one group strays outside the constitutional framework, then others will follow," she said.
She said the main task was that everyone sat down at the negotiating table.
The president, who came to power on the back of the "orange revolution" in 2004, demanded Friday that he and the prime minister draft a joint address to the Constitutional Court to hold lawmakers responsible for defections.
Yushchenko said that at the beginning of the Supreme Rada's work, the parliamentary majority numbered 239 votes, but grew to 260 in eight months.
The president has not ruled out the possibility of early elections, and his secretariat has already prepared a draft decree that tentatively schedules polls for May 27. But the Supreme Rada will first have to obtain permission from the Constitutional Court to dissolve parliament.
The first deputy speaker of the Supreme Rada said Saturday that the coalition could impose a moratorium on deputies joining the parliamentary majority until the Constitutional Court makes a ruling on the issue.
"We are ready to return to the original coalition of 238 deputies and temporarily impose a moratorium on those wanting to join the coalition," Adam Martynyuk told journalists.
Bogatyryova, who is a coordinator of the parliamentary majority, also said the coalition believes President Yushchenko cannot sign a parliament dissolution decree, as it would contradict the Constitution.
She said that if the president signs such a decree, the coalition will turn to the Constitutional Court in protest.
But Yushchenko's representative in the Rada, Roman Zvarych, said presidential decrees are mandatory, and that the Constitutional Court has no authority to suspend any legal act until it has been implemented.
Parliamentary elections in Ukraine in March 2006 saw the Party of Regions come first, followed by the Tymoshenko Bloc and Our Ukraine. The Party of Regions, the Socialists and the Communists formed a majority coalition after five months of political wrangling, and elected Yanukovych prime minister in August.
The power struggle between the prime minister and the president broke out after the country was transformed from a presidential into a parliamentary republic by constitutional amendments following the "orange revolution."
Both supporters and those against the dissolution of the Supreme Rada held mass rallies in the center of the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, Saturday. Police said more than 30,000 coalition supporters participated, while more than 25,000 took to the streets to support the opposition.
Coalition supporters are holding a 15,000-strong rally Monday protesting against the possible dissolution of the Rada, a Party of Regions representative said.
