Zimbabwe Parliament to Convene Next Week

Zimbabwe’s parliament will convene next week, five months after legislators were elected in a poll that saw President Robert Mugabe’s ruling Zanu-PF lose its House majority for the first time since independence. Speaking on state television, Parliamentary clerk Austin Zvoma affirmed that the legislators will be sworn in either Monday or Tuesday. Meanwhile, negotiations between Mugabe and Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai remained suspended Tuesday, deadlocked over who between the two should hold overall executive authority. Last week’s summit of Southern African heads of state failed to broker a power sharing deal between the two, and recommended the convening of the country’s parliament “to exert the will of the Zimbabwean people on the negotiations”. Tsvangirai’s Opposition MDC holds 109 seats, Mugabe’s Zanu-PF has 97 while Arthur Mutambara’s breakaway MDC faction, which is expected to provide the “swing” numbers to whichever side it chooses to back, holds 10 seats. [PE]