In an unprecedented move that has angered local Democratic lawmakers, Bronx State Senator Jeff Klein and his conference of Independent Democrats struck a power-sharing agreement with Republicans last week.

That means Klein, who represents a sprawling Bronx district that now runs from the far east Bronx through Bedford Park into Riverdale, will become co-president of the Senate with Republican Majority Leader Dean Skelos starting at the beginning of the new year.

The pair, already being dubbed “Skleinos,” will become Leaders of their respective conferences and share equal authority over committee chairmanships, board appointments, budget talks and which bills will come up for a vote.

For the past two years, Klein and the Independent Democrats have worked closely with Republicans.

In a joint statement, Skelos and Klein say the agreement “marks a bold new chapter in this partnership that will allow the Senate to continue pushing New York State forward, while ensuring that there will be no returning to the failed leadership of the past.”

Without mentioning names, it’s clear they are talking about Democrats, who struggled to stay united during their two-year run in charge of the Senate during 2009 and 2010. During that time, Bronx State Senator Pedro Espada infamously took the Senate hostage and extorted Democrats for a plum leadership position in exchange for his loyalty.

Some Democrats say Klein’s move is similar to Espada’s and flies in the face of the state’s voters, who appear to have elected a majority of Democrats in the State Senate. (Two upstate races have yet to be determined, but Democrats could have as many as 33 of the Senate’s 63 seats.)

“This is not a coalition but a coup against all New Yorkers who voted for Democratic control of the Senate and a progressive state government,” said Senate Democratic spokesman Mike Murphy.

Klein, however, insists the power-sharing deal will allow more progressive bills to see light on the Senate floor.

In recent interviews, Klein has specifically mentioned a minimum wage hike, campaign finance reform and changes to the police department’s stop-and-frisk policies. (Klein did not respond to specific questions for this article by press time.)

Malcolm Smith, an African-American senator from Queens who was majority leader during the Espada debacle in 2009, joined Klein’s conference on the day the power-sharing deal was announced, becoming its first minority member.

“Over the past two years, Senator Klein and his colleagues in the IDC have shown that they’re driven by policy, not politics,” Smith said in a statement. “They have delivered on an impressive bipartisan agenda, have stayed true to their Democratic principles, and have laid the groundwork for an historic bipartisan model of governing.”

Bronx State Senator Gustavo Rivera, who worked hard this fall to win back the majority for Democrats, is skeptical, saying the move essentially keeps Republicans in power when the public voted them out.

He said the new “so-called coalition will present watered-down versions of progressive issues that we, as Democrats, feel are the best way to move New York forward.”

Rivera said the “devil is in the details.” Because the coalition will choose chairmanships, Rivera said it will also be writing the final drafts of bills that reach the floor for a vote, which means “the bulk of us [Democrats] — 27 of us — will be excluded from the conversation.”

Editor’s note: A version of this article was originally published in the Dec. 13-26 print edition of the Norwood News.