Zimbabwe opposition leader to be sworn-in as Premier
APA-Harare (Zimbabwe) Thousands of Zimbabweans are expected to witness the swearing-in ceremony of prime minister-designate Morgan Tsvangirai at an exhibition park in the capital Harare on Wednesday, his party has announced here.
Publié le 10 février 2009 Lecture : 1 minute.
Opposition leader Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said the ceremony would take place at Glamis Stadium located within the Harare Exhibition Park, a stone’s throw from the venue of more than six months of tough power-sharing negotiations between the MDC and ZANU PF of President Robert Mugabe. The MDC said Tsvangirai would use the occasion to address Zimbabweans on the new political dispensation. « No party regalia will be entertained at the event as this is not a party occasion but a major national event. This will be a historic occasion for the country. It marks the beginning of a new era, the final miles of a journey to a new Zimbabwe, » the MDC said. The prime minister-designate, together with his two deputies, would be sworn-in by Mugabe during a ceremony that would have been inconceivable this time last year. Mugabe and Tsvangirai have fought a bitter eight-year battle for control of Zimbabwe, with the former accusing his opponent of being a Western « stooge » used by Britain and the United States to effect an illegal regime change in the southern African country. Their dispute worsened after disputed elections in March and June 2008 which were marred by violence. They only agreed to form a coalition government after the intervention of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). SADC brokered a power-sharing agreement between the two men in September 2008 but the consummation of the deal was delayed for four months over a disagreement about the composition and structure of the unity government.
