SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe
Jacob Mudenda has been elected as the speaker of the eighth parliament, after MPs were sworn in on Tuesday, marking an end to the MDC-T’s five year parliamentary majority. In the aftermath of the bloody 2008 elections, President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU PF party lost its parliamentary majority for the first time since independence in 1980. ZANU PF took 97 of the 210 seats, while the MDC-T won 99. In the July 31st poll, the ruling party ‘won’ 197 of the 270 seats, while the MDC-T captured 70. Two seats went to the smaller MDC party led by Professor Welshman Ncube. The polls were characterized by extensive reports of rigging. This majority meant that the election of the speaker after the swearing in ceremony was a formality for ZANU PF, as the former governor of Matabeleland North during the Gukurahundi massacres was elevated to the post without contest. Mudenda, a lawyer by profession, is the current chairperson of the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC). Mudenda, who was also fingered in the Willowgate scandal where top ZANU PF officials were implicated in the illegal resale of vehicles, will be deputized by Mutoko North legislator Mabel Chinomona. Thokozani Khupe, the deputy President of the MDC-T, will be the party leader in Parliament. James Maridadi, a first term MP representing the MDC-T, said he hopes the incoming Parliament will be used as a forum and catalyst to develop the country, and that it won’t be treated like a circus. Almost all the MDC-T MPs were sworn in, despite earlier threats by the party to boycott Parliament. The boycott threat, which almost caused a huge rift in the party, was resolved when party leader Morgan Tsvangirai gave the MPs the green light to attend to parliamentary business. But Tsvangirai said he would not accept any offers of cabinets posts from ZANU PF. Maridadi said: ‘Like other parliaments worldwide, our Parliament is responsible for determining laws, as well as overseeing the work of the government.‘Many promises have been made by both sides of the divide, the incoming government and the MDC-T during the election campaign, and there are many serious and important matters and issues that need to be looked into, carried out and done to develop the country.’ The Mabvuku MP added: ‘We’ve been elected to Parliament by the voters, who obviously want to see us being professional and conducting ourselves in a manner that befits a parliamentarian but not seeing their MP’s behaving like clowns.’