Zim talks 'continuing'

2008-08-27 10:01

Harare - Zimbabwe's power-sharing talks are still taking place, the country's new parliamentary speaker said on Wednesday.

"The talks are on," Speaker Lovemore Moyo, an official in the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), told South Africa's Talk Radio 702.

Asked if parliament will continue to meet during the post-election negotiations, he said: "Certainly".

The MDC took a tough line on Tuesday.

Opposition parliamentarians jeered and booed Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe as he reopened parliament in spite of their protests, but he said he was still hopeful for a power-sharing deal.

The MDC said he had no right to open the chamber. Mugabe was re-elected unopposed in a June vote boycotted by Tsvangirai because of violence and condemned around the world.

The opposition party said three of its deputies were arrested at parliament on Tuesday on what it called trumped-up political violence charges.

Deadlock in talks between Mugabe and MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai over how to share power has undermined hopes for an agreement that might allow Zimbabwe to recover from its devastating economic decline.

- Reuters