Zimbabwe's parliament members sworn in, new cabinet to form

Newly elected members of the National Assembly of Zimbabwe, dominated by veteran President Robert Mugabe's ruling party, were sworn in on Tuesday, as the president is also expected to announce cabinet minister appointments soon. The swearing-in ceremony followed the July 31 elections that were won by Mugabe and his Zanu-PF party, and marked the commencement of the Eighth Parliament of Zimbabwe which will be officially opened on Sept. 17. Zanu-PF party has a more than two-thirds majority in the National Assembly with 197 legislators against the opposition's 72. There is also one independent member in the National Assembly. After sworn in, Zanu-PF legislators proceeded to elect former governor of Matabeleland North Province Jacob Mudenda as the speaker of the National Assembly and Mabel Chinomona as the deputy speaker. The minority opposition boycotted the election process. Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku administered the oath of loyalty and office for the speaker and his deputy. The 80 members of the Senate were also sworn in, with the upper house retaining Zanu-PF member Edna Madzongwe as the President of the Senate and elected former Zanu-PF information minister Chen Chimutengwende as the deputy president. Zanu-PF has 37 senators while the opposition has 23. There are also 18 chiefs and two representatives of the disabled in the upper house. In her acceptance speech, Madzongwe said the Eighth Parliament of Zimbabwe was unique and historic "in that it will be operating under a new, first, post independence, wholly Zimbabwean people driven constitution." She urged the senators to bury political differences and work for the good governance of the country. "Yes we do come from different political parties, but, specifically to serve the nation," she said. The swearing-in ceremony of the members of parliament paves way for the appointment of cabinet ministers by Mugabe possibly this week. The veteran president will choose the ministers from Members of Parliament and is also allowed by law to appoint into cabinet five other persons from outside parliament. Mugabe is widely expected to unveil a smaller cabinet compared to 42 that were in the previous inclusive government.