Mugabe's Party Loses Key Post

Zimbabwe's Main Opposition Group Wins Speakership of Country's Parliament

HARARE, Zimbabwe, Aug. 25 -- Zimbabwe's main opposition party won the key post of parliament speaker Monday, dealing a blow to President Robert Mugabe's ruling party while negotiations are stalled over who will rule the country.

Lovemore Moyo, the national chairman of the Movement for Democratic Change, won the post with 110 votes in the 210-member body. It was the first time Mugabe's party has lost control of the position, among the most powerful in Zimbabwe, since independence in 1980.

Opposition lawmakers broke into song after their win, which came despite the arrests of two MDC members of parliament Monday morning, in what political analysts said was likely an attempt to cut the opposition's vote ahead of the crucial poll. One of the two was released in time to vote, but the whereabouts of the other are unknown, opposition spokesman Nelson Chamisa said.

Despite the government's bloody crackdown on the opposition before the March elections, the MDC won a 100-seat majority in the parliament. Mugabe's party, ZANU-PF, won 99 seats. A breakaway opposition party holds 10 seats, and there is one independent.

Monday's vote underscored the weakened position of Mugabe and his party. Analysts said it could reinvigorate power-sharing talks, which stalled earlier this month after the two main parties and the splinter faction failed to agree on the distribution of executive powers.

Mugabe's party was expected to win the speakership, but it withdrew its candidate at the last minute and lent its support to Paul Themba Nyathi, a member of the splinter opposition group. The move sparked speculation that ZANU-PF may have tried to cut a deal with the smaller opposition faction to gain favor with its members. But they appear to have split their votes, and analysts suggested some ZANU-PF members may have voted for Moyo.

"There seems to have been some sort of deal, but I think it went horribly wrong," because the members of parliament did not support it, said Fambai Ngirande, who heads a national coalition of civic groups. The members "did not want to be seen to have sided with ZANU-PF on this issue."

The opposition's speakership victory showed the party is "in control," Chamisa said in a statement. But it remains unclear which party will wield the most control in parliament, because both ZANU-PF and the MDC need the splinter group's support to achieve a majority.

Zimbabwe has been stuck in a political crisis since the March 29 elections, in which MDC presidential candidate Morgan Tsvangirai defeated Mugabe but did not win the majority required for victory, electoral officials said. Tsvangirai withdrew from the June runoff, citing attacks on his supporters by security forces and ruling party militias. Mugabe was declared the overwhelming winner of the June 27 vote, which was widely denounced.

According to documents leaked from the power-sharing talks, Mugabe has refused to give up the presidency or control of the government and key ministries, including the country's security forces. Both parties have said they remain committed to the negotiations, but Tsvangirai has said he will not accept "responsibility without authority."