There is an impending governmental crisis in Ukraine.

Le Monde reports the fairly remarkable events that occurred in Ukrainian parliament yesterday. President Yushchenko was due to give his annual state of the union speech. However, supporters of the prime minister, Yulia Tymoshenko, occupied the podium and prevented him from speaking. The president was forced to deliver an off-the-cuff speech direct to the media.

Prime Minister Tymoshenko announced that the deputies would continue to occupy the podium until the president allowed the discussion of various measures designed to control the rate of inflation. The president’s supporters are particularly critical of the government’s seeming inability to control the level of inflation, which is running at over 30%.

The president insists that there will not be an early election or a new coalition. However, it is difficult to see how the current coalition can continue to exist. Moreover, Le Monde reports rumours that Prime Minister Tymoshenko’s party is negotiating with the current opposition party, the Party of the Regions, with a view to forming a new government and one that will try to pass a constitutional reform to reduce the powers of the presidency.