KIEV, Sept. 2 – Ukraine’s ruling coalition appears near collapse after Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko’s group, joining with the opposition Regions Party, approved a barrage of bills Tuesday targeting President Viktor Yushchenko and his pro-Western foreign policy.

Our Ukraine-People’s Self-defense, a group that harbors many Yushchenko supporters, at an emergency meeting late Tuesday approved a decision to withdraw from the coalition, people familiar with the situation said.

The decision, which de-facto means the end of the coalition, will be officially announced in Parliament on Wednesday, the people said.

The developments may trigger a chain of events that could either lead to the creation of a new coalition, or may lead to an early general election in Ukraine before the end of the year.

“What happened in Parliament is nothing but the betrayal of interests of voters,” Yuriy Kostenko, a member of Our Ukraine-People’s Self-defense, said of the Tymoshenko group.

Tymoshenko, who positions herself as a “pro-Western” leader, has been so far persistently ruling out any cooperation with the Regions Party, led by pro-Russian former Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych.

But Tymoshenko’s confrontation with Yushchenko, who has been pushing hard for Ukraine’s fast accession to NATO and has condemned Russia for its recent use of army in Georgia, has apparently forced her to change the course.

One of the bills approved by the emerged Tymoshenko-Yanukovych alliance on Tuesday allows Parliament to dismiss ministers of foreign affairs and defense, the two ministers that are currently nominated by the president.

The bill potentially sets the stage for a showdown over Ukraine’s foreign policy allowing Parliament de-facto to overpower Yushchenko by replacing his pro-Western foreign minister.

Another bill takes away from the president and shifts to Parliament the power to nominate the head of the SBU security service, the only law enforcement agency that is currently under the control of the president.

Other bills make it easier to conduct impeachment of the president and allow establishing of special investigative commissions that will be potentially used to advance the impeachment.

The bills will probably be vetoed by Yushchenko, but the Tymoshenko group and the Regions Party jointly control enough seats in Parliament to override the veto.

The only exception is the bill establishing the investigative commissions - which had been earlier vetoed by the president - and the alliance has overcome the veto on Tuesday.

All the bills were approved immediately after Tymoshenko had refused to back Our Ukraine-People’s Self-defense’s resolution slamming Russia for its war with Georgia and for the use of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, stationed in Ukraine, in the conflict.

The number of bills submitted and approved reveals a well-prepared and coordinated action between Tymoshenko and Yanukovych, suggesting the two groups have been holding secret talks over the past several weeks.

The office of Yushchenko, citing unidentified sources, last month alleged that Tymoshenko has set up a secret team in Moscow to handle and to finance her campaign at the next presidential election.

The office also said that several prominent members of the Regions Party, such as Andriy Kliuyev and Dmytro Tabachnyk, were part of the team. The office said the team is led by Viktor Medvedchuk, a foe of Yushchenko and the alleged mastermind of the sweeping fraud and manipulations at the presidential election in 2004.

Tymoshenko denied the allegations. Regions Party members also denied the allegations.

On Tuesday, the Tymoshenko group and the Regions Party tried to downplay the future of the emerged alliance, calling it a temporary “seize fire.”

“Today’s vote is not the creation of the new coalition,” Taras Chornovil, a member of the Regions Party, said. “This is a temporary seize fire between the two largest groups.”

Andriy Shkil, a member of the Tymoshenko group, said it was now the time to sit down with Our Ukraine-People’s Self-defense and to hold talks over the differences, but he has assured the coalition was still intact.

“Is there an anti-state bill that we have approved? No matter what bill would have been approved, the office of the president would accuse us of betraying the state and betraying the national interests,” Shkil said, adding “the strength of the coalition is being tested.” (tl/ez)