Zimbabawe: Opposition MDC wins key post in parliament

(SomaliNet) A surprise victory for democracy that could give the Zimbabwean opposition leverage in deadlocked power-sharing talks following Zimbabwe’s disputed election, Zimbabwe\'s main opposition party won the top job in parliament on Monday.

President Robert Mugabe\'s Zanu-PF party had been expected to win the key post of Speaker, but did not nominate a candidate because \"the figures were against us\", party MP Walter Mzemdi said.

Zanu-PF MPs were instructed to vote for the leader of a splinter opposition faction, Paul Themba-Nyathi, he said.

But Lovemore Moyo, of Morgan Tsvangirai\'s Movement for Democratic Change, won the key position by 110 votes to 98.

The distribution of votes in the secret ballot showed Moyo apparently got votes from both Mugabe\'s party and the breakaway splinter faction.

The Speaker can control the timing and pace of debate, which is a strategic advantage.

Analyst Simandla Zondi said the victory marked \"the beginning of power-sharing not by consensus, but by issue of the electoral weight\" of the opposition party.

\"It gives them a significant amount of power to build the legislative assembly into a strong force for accountability, one which is really going to force the executive (Mugabe) to find a way to work with a parliament which may be led by hostile forces,\" said Zondi, of South Africa\'s Institute for Global Dialogue.

Zanu-PF won a later vote for the presidency of the upper house of parliament, the Senate - where it has a majority - meaning it can block legislation passed by parliament.

If Tsvangirai\'s party continues to win support from MPs in other parties, the opposition could block legislation in parliament and funding for major ministries.

The opposition says Mugabe\'s decision to convene parliament undermined his negotiations with Tsvangirai.

The Movement for Democratic Change party has 100 seats in the 210-seat legislature; Mugabe\'s party 99; and a faction that broke away from the opposition has 10.-Cape Times