Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe was heckled and jeered by the opposition on Tuesday as he delivered his speech at the official opening of Parliament.
Angry opposition MPs booed Mugabe when he declared that ”landmark agreements have been concluded with every expectation that everybody will sign up”.
Opposition MPs later sang ”Zanu-PF is rotten”, with a number of senior Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leaders present despite the party earlier indicating it would boycott the opening over the lack of progress in power-sharing negotiations.
Mugabe opened Parliament in defiance of opposition objections. The MDC said Mugabe had no right to open the chamber and warned that the move would endanger the deadlocked negotiations.
But the party’s parliamentarians nonetheless attended the opening of Parliament, backing the MDC official who was elected to the powerful speaker position on Monday.
Zanu-PF also holds a key post as head of the Senate, intensifying a power struggle as the two parties come under mounting pressure to reach a breakthrough that could allow them to deal with Zimbabwe’s growing economic catastrophe.
Zanu-PF won a vote for the presidency of the upper house of Parliament, the Senate — where it has a majority — meaning it can block legislation passed by Parliament.
Negotiations between Zanu-PF and the MDC have stalled over what the opposition says is Mugabe’s refusal to give up executive power after 28 years in office.
Arrests
Earlier on Monday, two opposition legislators were arrested as they arrived to be sworn in to Parliament, part of a continuing campaign of intimidation and harassment by Mugabe.
The election of Lovemore Moyo of the MDC as speaker brought cheers from the opposition, and legislators broke into an electoral song declaring ”Zanu-PF is finished!”
Moyo won the top position in Parliament by 110 votes to 98. Distribution of votes in the secret ballot showed he apparently got votes from both Mugabe’s party and the splinter opposition faction.
He promised to ”work toward a professional Parliament that will represent the true wishes of the people of Zimbabwe.”
Shortly before the election of speaker, two opposition legislators were arrested. Legislator Sure Mudiwa was held only briefly and later was among 208 of 210 lawmakers sworn in. But the second arrested, Elia Jembere, did not reappear.
Jembere is among seven opposition activists police want for alleged involvement in election violence. Independent human rights groups say Mugabe’s forces are responsible for most violence. — AFP, Reuters, Sapa-AP