KIEV, March 11 – Mykola Azarov, a close ally of President Viktor Yanukovych, on Thursday was appointed prime minister after three groups formed a new coalition backed by 16 defectors from two opposition groups.

The development, which was immediately followed by the appointments of a new government and security service chief, shows Yanukovych has managed to significantly increase his grip on power.

The coalition, named “Stability and Reforms,” mustered 235 lawmakers in the 450-seat Parliament. It became possible only after the approval of controversial legislation allowing individual lawmakers – as opposed to groups – to join.

At least three politicians, including Yanukovych himself, pledged to appeal the legislation in the Constitutional Court to see if it’s in line with the constitution.

“The court has three months to rule on the appeal,” Hanna Herman, a deputy chief of staff at the Yanukovych administration, said in an interview with Channel 5. “At least we won’t waste these three months as the government will start working, will launch the reforms.”

The three groups that formed the coalition - the Regions Party, the Communist Party and the group led by Parliamentary Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn - control only 219 seats. The remaining 16 members of the coalition are the defectors from the opposition groups.

“If the court, in its verdict, says the coalition is illegitimate, the president will declare new parliamentary election, the new coalition will be formed, the new government will be formed,” Herman said.

Ivan Kyrylenko, the leader of the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc in Parliament, said the group does not view the coalition as legitimate, and will form its own opposition government.

“Our group doesn’t recognize the coalition that has been created against the constitution,” Kyrylenko said. “We expect that the Constitutional Court will give a clear assessment of these actions.”

Yanukovych said the new coalition, and the new government, will work hard to improve the economy that he said was “destroyed” by previous government.

“Poverty and debts, destroyed economy and financial system, split society and total distrust – that’s the view we’ve gotten after five years of wondering in the desert,” Yanukovych said in a statement.

“We inform the people of Ukraine that healthy forces have found themselves in the Parliament able to put interests of the state above their own ambitions,” he said. “The coalition has been created that will take full responsibility for pulling the country out of the crisis.”

Azarov, 62, who was born in Kaluga, Russia, moved to Donetsk, Ukraine, in 1984, to lead a coal mining research institute.

Ten years later, in 1994, he was elected to Parliament, and had later led the State Tax Administration for President Leonid Kuchma, often putting pressure on businesses affiliated with opposition groups, a charge that he denies.

Azarov was twice the finance minister in the Yanukovych government, and is generally regarded as a tough manager, but not the supporter of liberal economy. He also doesn’t speak Ukrainian, for which nationalist groups frequently criticize him.

Yulia Tymoshenko, who was ousted as the prime minister last week, on Thursday poked at Azarov for his strict style of management.

“Azarovshchyna is back in Ukraine,” Tymoshenko said. “I can’t remember any reforms during the Azarovshchyna, only destruction of the country’s economy.” (tl/ez)