Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe had no right to address Parliament until power-sharing talks with the opposition have been completed, the Movement for Democratic Change said on Tuesday.
”The dialogue has not been completed. It is arrogant and reckless for anybody to come and address Parliament. Mugabe is not mandated by anyone to address Parliament. Nobody has the right to address Parliament before talks are completed,” MDC spokesperson Nelson Chamisa said.
Chamisa said the MDC had decided to boycott the opening of Parliament later on Tuesday.
”We will not attend. The clear message is that the dialogue is still under way and we don’t expect any member of the executive to address us until that dialogue has been concluded,” he said.
Power-sharing negotiations stalled recently with President Robert Mugabe’s ruling Zanu-PF over failure to reach a deal on the division of power.
Mugabe is listed on the programme to speak at the official opening. Tuesday’s session marks the first time Zanu-PF has not controlled the lower house or held a majority of seats since independence.
Zanu-PF was urging supporters to attend the ceremony to show solidarity with the veteran leader and the party’s negotiators.
The MDC won the key parliamentary speaker post in a vote on Monday but Mugabe’s biggest political opponent Morgan Tsvangirai said earlier that convening Parliament could violate a memorandum of understanding that led to the power-sharing talks.
Chamisa said the party was in a difficult position because its candidate Lovemore Moyo had been elected speaker of Parliament — one of the most powerful posts in Zimbabwean politics.
Divisions
Moyo won 110 votes out of 208 ballots cast in the secret vote, likely picking up the support of nearly a dozen Zanu-PF lawmakers. The MDC holds 100 seats in the Parliament.
Zanu-PF did not put up a candidate despite holding 99 seats in the 210-member house, with most voting instead for Paul Themba Nyathi of the MDC splinter group led by Arthur Mutambara, which has 10 seats.
”This vote somehow exposes divisions that have been slowly creeping up within the ruling party,” said Olmo Von Meijenfeldt, an analyst from the Institute for Democracy in South Africa.
Zanu-PF’s not putting up a candidate could also have been a ”strategic move” by Mugabe toward Mutambara who is in a pivotal position to swing power to either main bloc, said Laurence Caromba of the Centre for International Political Studies in South Africa.
”Relations between Mutambara and Mugabe have been good lately … It’s not inconceivable that the two agreed to work together in an attempt to retain control of Parliament,” Caromba said. – AFP , Reuters