Maravi

(NEWZIMBABWE) Tsvangirai flip-flops over Parliament, parties fight over Speaker

Tsvangirai flip-flops over Parliament, parties fight over Speaker
WHICH IS WHICH: Tsvangirai said he had no objections to parliament reconvening on Tuesday, but on Thursday, he said he was totally opposed
By Lebo Nkatazo
Last updated: Fri, 22 Aug 2008 04:24:15 GMT

ZIMBABWEAN opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai performed a spectacular U-turn on Thursday by warning that President Robert Mugabe risked scuttling power-sharing talks if he goes ahead with the opening of parliament next Tuesday.

Tsvangirai told a news conference in Nairobi, Kenya, that Mugabe's move was a "repudiation" of the Memorandum of Understanding with the opposition on the framework for talks. That agreement was signed on July 21.

Austin Zvoma, the Clerk of Parliament, confirmed this week that MPs will be sworn-in on Monday, to be immediately followed by the election of a Speaker of Parliament. Mugabe will officially open the new parliament on Tuesday.

"A violation of the MoU will have to be dealt with by the mediator," Tsvangirai said. South African President Thabo Mbeki and other senior officials from his country are mediating in the talks, which began last month.

"If President Mugabe goes ahead to convene parliament, appoint a new cabinet, it means he is proceeding to violate the conditions of the MoU which means he may have abandoned the basis for the talks but we don't know what his intentions are," Tsvangirai added.

Tsvangirai was not challenged on the policy shift, having told reporters in South Africa on Tuesday (see full interview): “Let parliament be reconvened. As far as we are concerned, we don’t see anything wrong with that. It will have no effect. Parliament is an expression of the will of the people, but Cabinet is another thing.”

Tsvangirai’s retreat from his earlier position follows a statement by Tendai Biti, the secretary general of his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) issued on Wednesday which warned that “any decision to convene parliament will be a clear repudiation of the MoU. In short, convening parliament decapitates the dialogue.”

To compound the confusion, Biti appeared to try and narrow the gap between his expressed position and that of his leader in an interview with AFP on Thursday.

“Our problem is with the convening of parliament,” he said, “not the swearing-in of members.”

In practise, however, once MPs are sworn in the implication is that they begin their legislative work. The swearing-in ceremony is usually followed by the election of Speaker; the appointment of Cabinet by the President which is then followed by the election of parliamentary committee chairmen based on the various government ministries, said former opposition MP, Tafadzwa Musekiwa.

Despite their opposition, Biti said their MPs would still attend the swearing-in ceremony “to defend our mandate”.

Zanu PF officials say regional leaders meeting in South Africa last Sunday gave President Mugabe the green-light to form a government.

In a communiqué (read) , the Southern African Development Community (SADC) said it believed the terms of a power-sharing deal which is endorsed by Mugabe and MDC faction leader Arthur Mutambara, but rejected by Tsvangirai, “reflect the framework, spirit and purpose of the SADC and AU Resolutions (on power sharing). In view of that, they are a good basis for a global agreement.”

The SADC leaders also “recognised that while negotiations are continuing, it may be necessary to convene Parliament to give effect to the will of the people as expressed in the Parliamentary elections held on 29 March 2008.”

Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa said MDC-Tsvangirai inconsistencies showed they had no valid objections to the convening of parliament.

“Yesterday, they said they had no problem with parliament opening, and today they have a problem? I have no comment on that,” Chinamasa quipped.

Edwin Mushoriwa, a spokesman of a smaller MDC faction led by Mutambara said its 10 elected MPs would not boycott the oath-taking on Monday.

"If we don't attend, Mugabe's MPs will choose the speaker and deputy. We cannot boycott the sitting of parliament,” he told AFP.

"We are opposed to the rule of Mugabe,” he added. "We may vote on a particular issue (with Zanu-PF or MDC-Tsvangirai), but we're not getting in partnership with one or the other."

The party’s secretary general Professor Welshman Ncube said they were making a case for taking the position of Speaker as the minority party in a hung parliament where neither Zanu PF nor the Tsvangirai MDC command a majority. Tsvangirai’s MDC has 100 MPs, Zanu PF 99, the Mutambara MDC 10 and one seat is held by an independent, Jonathan Moyo. To push through any legislation, at least 106 MPs must vote for it, although the Speaker is any individual who gets the most votes.

“We believe that we are most suited as the minority party in a hung parliament to provide Speaker. We will be talking to the other parties, but my understanding is that all the three parties are at this point holding on to their candidates,” Ncube said.

New Zimbabwe.com understands the Mutambara-MDC intends to push through Paul Themba Nyathi, a former MDC spokesman, for the role of Speaker.

Without cutting a deal with the Mutambara-MDC, however, it is unlikely both Zanu PF and the Tsvangirai-MDC could get their own candidate through as they may simply cancel each other out.

Negotiations on power-sharing were suspended last week, and both opposition and the South African mediators have said they did not know when they would resume.

Zanu PF suffered a historic defeat in legislative elections in March, but the presidential election was inconclusive as none of the four candidates gained the required 50.1 percent of the vote to win outright.

Mugabe was re-elected in a one-man presidential run-off in June that was boycotted by Tsvangirai, who led in the first round.

Both sides are under major pressure from both within Africa and around the world to reach an agreement that will pave the way for the rebuilding of Zimbabwe's devastated economy, now suffering inflation of at least 11 million percent.

Labels: CABINET, MDC, MORGAN TSVANGIRAI

posted by MrK @ 3:14 PM