The prospect of an an end to semi-presidentialism in Ukraine has drawn nearer, even though this form of government remains extremely popular in the country.

On Sunday Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and former PM and leader of the Party of the Regions, Viktor Yanukovych, appear to have brokered a deal that is based on constitutional reforms that are designed to keep the two parties in power for the foreseeable future.

According to Ukrainian Journal, the reforms would include a change in the electoral system to allow only the top two parties to receive representation in the Verkhovna Rada. In addition, the long-mooted idea of electing the president via parliament was also proposed.

Following the debate over the date of the next presidential election (see previous post), Unian reports that a new decree had been presented to parliament last week that set the presidential date for 17 January 2010. However, the speaker of the Verkhovna Rada is now reported as saying that the decree will not be debated.

Even though an end to semi-presidentialism seems to be coming closer and closer, an opinion poll in Unian shows that the direct election of the president is very popular, being supported by 80.6% and opposed by only 6.1%. The overwhelming support for direct election explains why President Yushchenko is reported to have promised to call a referendum on the issue if an amendment is passed by parliament.

Meanwhile another opinion poll reported in Unian shows that Yanukovych is best placed to win an election if one were to be held tomorrow (and which perhaps also helps to explain why the Tymoshenko bloc is willing to consider a long-standing alliance with the party’s main rivals). For her part, Tymoshenko is polling 16.2%. Arseniy Yatseniuk comes third with 12.8%. The Communist Party leader, Petro Symonenko, registers 3.4%, Verkhovna Rada Speaker, Volodymyr Lytvyn, has 2.9%, while President Yushchenko’s rating has slipped further (almost unimaginably) to 1.9%.