MDC says parliament opening "illegal", calls for talks (3rd Roundup)

By Clare Byrne Aug 26, 2008, 16:12 GMT

Harare/Johannesburg - Zimbabwe's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said President Robert Mugabe's opening of parliament Tuesday was 'illegal' and called for the speedy resumption of talks on power-sharing as a state crackdown on MDC officials continued.

'The purported opening by Mugabe, the illegitimate usurper of the people's will as reflected on 29 March 2008 (elections), is illegal and of no force and effect,' the MDC said in a petition handed to Mugabe after he opened the two-chamber parliament to noisy protests.

'The only person who can officially open this session of Parliament will be determined by the outcome of the on-going dialogue sponsored by SADC (Southern African Development Community),' the petition continued.

In unprecedented scenes reflecting the ebullient mood within the party after scoring a parliamentary victory Monday, MDC deputies occupying ruling party benches for the first time this week drowned out Mugabe's speech with booing, clapping and singing.

Mugabe's Zanu-PF was consigned to the opposition in March elections after it finished second to Tsvangirai's MDC faction - the larger of two.

Tsvangirai's MDC won 100 seats to Zanu-PF's 99. The balance of power in the 210-seat lower house is held by a breakaway MDC faction led by Arthur Mutambara.

The MDC had initially threatened to boycott the convening of parliament because it does not recognize Mugabe as president.

Mugabe stakes his legitimacy on a June presidential run-off vote that Tsvangirai - winner of the first round - refused to contest because of a spate of political violence directed at his supporters.

MDC Secretary-General Tendai Biti said the party had reviewed its stance after its candidate, Lovemore Moyo, was voted speaker of parliament.

The party had wanted to show 'we now control parliament,' he said, while calling for the resumption of stalled power-sharing talks.

'Dialogue must continue and dialogue must be concluded,' Biti said.

In a speech barely audible above the din, Mugabe admitted to 'cases of regrettable and isolated political violence' in recent months, in which more than 125 MDC members have been killed.

He also continued to cast Tsvangirai as the spoiler in talks on a government of national unity, saying there was an 'expectation that everyone will sign up' to the deal on the table.

Under the current proposal brokered by South African President Thabo Mbeki, Mugabe would remain president with control of the army and significant executive powers.

Tsvangirai is demanding full control of the government, on the basis of his March victory.

Flogging a by now familiar hobby horse, Mugabe also lashed out at what he called a 'foreign hand' in Zimbabwe's economic demise.

The 'destructive hand of our enemies' was evident both in rising food prices and the destabilization of Zimbabwe's currency, he said.

Zimbabwe is in the throes of a grave economic crisis that has forced Mugabe into talks with the donor-backed MDC.

After Tsvangirai refused to sign up to the deal on the table, Mugabe got the go-ahead from his neighbours in SADC to convene parliament.

He was expected to follow that up by appointing a cabinet, possibly with some support from Mutambara's faction.

But Monday's vote for speaker looks to have stymied those plans. Tsvangirai's MDC won the position, with support in the secret ballot from within Mugabe's own party and Mutambara's faction and despite the arrest of two of its MPs. One was later released.

On Tuesday, the crackdown continued with the arrest of three more MPs and Elton Mangoma, a negotiator for the party who has been involved in the negotiations with Zanu-PF.

The MDC sees the arrests of the MPs as an attempt by Mugabe to shrink its numbers in parliament.

Zimbabweans are counting on a negotiated settlement to end nearly a decade of worsening hardship and political repression under Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since 1980.