Seventh Zimbabwean Parliament - Convening of Parliament

Convening of Parliament

On August 19, 2008, Robert Mugabe announced his intention to open Parliament in the subsequent week, five months after the parliamentary election was held. Due to the ongoing negotiations, the MDC-T deemed this move to convene Parliament unacceptable, with MDC-T Secretary-General Biti stating that it would "be a clear repudiation of the Memorandum of Understanding, and an indication beyond reasonable doubt of ZANU-PF's unwillingness to continue to be part of the talks. In short convening parliament decapitates the dialogue".

On the morning of August 25, Mugabe appointed 11 Senators. These appointments included eight of the ten Senate seats reserved for provincial Resident Ministers and Governors and three of the five special non-constituency Senate seats. Ephraim Masawi was appointed as Resident Minister and Governor for Mashonaland Central, Aeneas Chigwedere for Mashonaland East, Chris Mushohwe for Manicaland Province, and Faber Chidarikire for Mashonaland West. The remaining Resident Ministers and Governors—Angeline Masuku for Matabeleland South, Thokozile Mathuthu for Matabeleland North, Cain Mathema for Bulawayo, and Ishemunyoro David Karimanzira for Harare—were reappointed to their posts. (Mugabe did not appoint Resident Ministers and Governors for Midlands and Masvingo provinces at this time.) The three non-constituency senators appointed on this occasion were Vice-President Joseph Msika, Patrick Chinamasa, and John Nkomo, who was Speaker of Parliament during the preceding parliamentary term. Mugabe was believed to have left some of the posts vacant so that they could go to the MDC in the event of a power-sharing agreement.

Despite the MDC-T's objections, the members of Parliament were sworn in later on August 25. The MDC MPs sat on the government benches and told the ZANU-PF MPs to sit on the opposition benches.

Also on August 25, two MDC-T MPs—Shuwa Mudiwa and Eliah Jembere—were arrested. Mudiwa was released later in the day and sworn in as an MP. Wayne Bvudzijena, the police spokesman, said that the police questioned Mudiwa with regard to political violence, while Jembere was being held over rape charges. Five other MDC MPs were also wanted by the police. The MDC-T denounced the arrests as politically motivated and said that the police had entered Parliament and forcefully removed Mudiwa from the building. It also claimed that another of its MPs was targeted for arrest but that this arrest was prevented by other MDC MPs; however, according to the MDC, a third MP was arrested at his home the next day.

Mugabe opened Parliament on August 26, expressing an optimistic outlook on resolving the political dispute—"Landmark agreements have been concluded, with every expectation that everyone will sign up"—while denouncing the West's policies toward Zimbabwe. MDC MPs heckled him during his speech; although Mugabe continued with the speech and completed it, he was reportedly inaudible at times due to the volume of the heckling, "look annoyed", and spoke more loudly and quickly as a result. In a petition on the same day, the MDC condemned the convening of Parliament as a violation of the preliminary agreement between the parties regarding negotiations, described Mugabe as an "illegitimate usurper", and criticized the arrest of the MDC MPs. The Herald strongly criticized the heckling in an editorial, describing it as "disgraceful" and "infantile", while also asserting that the MDC-T had effectively acknowledged Mugabe's legitimacy by attending Parliament and remaining there during Mugabe's speech.