Mugabe jeered at parliament opening
Tuesday, 26 Aug 2008 16:45
Robert Mugabe greeted by jeers and slow handclaps during state opening of Zimbabwe parliament
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Robert Mugabe was greeted by jeers and slow handclaps as he opened
Zimbabwe's parliament today.
It is the first time since the country gained independence that Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF party has not held an overall majority.
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) MPs and supporters, who earlier said they would boycott the state opening, heckled the president as he extolled his government's achievements in the last 28 years.
Mr Mugabe is locked in power-sharing talks with MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who earlier this year pulled out of a presidential runoff amid escalating politically-motivated violence.
In his speech today Mr Mugabe said he was confident an agreement would be reached.
"Landmark agreements have been concluded, with every expectation that everyone will sign up," he said.
Yesterday the MDC achieved a major breakthrough when its candidate for parliamentary speaker was elected.
Lovemore Moyo, technically the fourth most powerful person in the government, is the first opposition speaker since 1980.
Mr Moyo took 110 votes compared to Paul Themba Nyathi, a candidate proposed by an opposition splinter group led by Arthur Mutambara.
Zanu-PF did not put a candidate up, instead backing Mr Nyathi in a bid to undermine the MDC, but the move backfired.