Zimbabwean Lawmakers to be Sworn-in Next Week

The swearing-in of newly elected Zimbabwean lawmakers will take place on August 25 or 26 and pave the way for President Robert Mugabe to appoint a new cabinet, an official announced Tuesday.
Speaker of Parliament Austin Zvoma told state-run television that members of Zimbabwe’s seventh parliament would be sworn in on Monday or Tuesday next week, about five months after they were elected in watershed polls held in March.

Zvoma said preparations for the swearing-in ceremony were now advanced and the convening of parliament would enable Mugabe to form a new government.

Swearing in of the new parliamentarians was put on hold last month as part of a memorandum of understanding signed by Mugabe and the two leaders of a split opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara.

The delay in convening parliament was meant to give dialogue involving the three main political parties a chance following a disputed presidential run-off in June that returned Mugabe to power but was condemned as flawed by the rest of the world.

The two MDC factions have a combined majority in the new parliament, the first time in Mugabe’s ZANU PF has lost control of the legislature in its 28-year reign over the southern African country.

Source African Press Agency

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