The governmental situation in Ukraine has been bad for months now, but it appears as if the coalition has finally collapsed.

In parliament, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko’s party allied with the opposition to pass a number of bills reducing the powers of the president. As a result, the BBC reports that all but one of 12 ministers from President Viktor Yushchenko’s party boycotted yesterday’s cabinet meeting. President Yushchenko is quoted as saying: “I will use my right to dissolve parliament and decree early elections if a new coalition is not formed within 30 days”.

Ukrainianjournal.com reports that one bill allows parliament to dismiss the foreign affairs and defense ministers, both of whom are currently nominated by the president. Apart from any other reasons, this change is particularly sensitive because President Yushchenko has been outspoken in his condemnation of Russia’s actions in Georgia and has called for Ukraine’s swift entry into NATO. However, this is opposed by the opposition Russia-focused Party of the Regions. Prime Minister Tymoshenko’s alliance with the Party of the Regions suggests that she has switched sides on this issue. Other bills take away the president’s power to nominate the head of the SBU security service and make it easier to impeach the president. President Yushchenko will probably veto all of the bills, but the alliance between Prime Minister Tymoshenko and the Party of the Regions is sufficient for presidential vetoes to be overridden.