Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
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August 25, 2008

Zimbabwe Opposition Wins Parliament Speaker Post
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=1DDCF04:A6F02AD83191E1601877F94A1C45CBF25C6F54A6CF9DC2CA&
 
Movement for Democratic Change member Lovemore Moyo's win considered
major victory over Mr. Mugabe 
      Zimbabwean's opposition member Lovemore Moyo takes the oath of
allegiance as he swears-in of as new parliament speaker at Harare
parliament, 25 Aug 2008Zimbabwe's main opposition party has won the vote
for speaker of parliament, scoring a major victory over President Robert
Mugabe. The parliament clerk said Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
member Lovemore Moyo won 110 votes in Monday's vote to capture one of
the most powerful positions in Zimbabwean politics. Parliament met for
the first time today since general elections in March and the disputed
presidential run-off poll in June. Earlier, the MDC said police arrested
two of its lawmakers, Eliah Zembere and Sure Mudiwa, as parliament
members gathered to be sworn in. MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa said
authorities were trying to rig the election process for speaker.
Parliament opens with the main MDC faction holding 100 seats, while Mr.
Mugabe's ZANU-PF party has 99. A smaller MDC fraction with 10 seats
holds the balance!
  of power. The main MDC faction had objected to the opening of
parliament, saying it could scuttle power-sharing talks between Mr.
Mugabe and main MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai. Zimbabwe has been plagued
by political turmoil and violence since the first round of presidential
voting in March, won by Tsvangirai. Tsvangirai boycotted the runoff in
June, citing state-sponsored attacks against his party supporters, and
President Mugabe was re-elected. ZANU-PF and the MDC began power-sharing
talks several weeks ago, but the talks were suspended after the sides
could not agree on the distribution of power between Mr. Mugabe and
Tsvangirai. Many countries dismissed the June 29th run-off won by Mr.
Mugabe as a sham. Since then, the sides have been under heavy
international pressure to strike a power-sharing deal to end Zimbabwe's
state of crisis. The country suffers from food shortages, 80 percent
unemployment and an annual inflation rate estimated at 11 million
percent. Millions of Zimbabweans have fled to surrounding countries to
escape the economic melt
down. Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.

 


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